rZootopia Anthology Volume II: The Children of Zootopia
by vulpinewizard
Summary: This work is a community developed Anthology from the Zootopia Subreddit. Collectively, we voted on a common theme, and submitted stories based around that theme. For this volume, the theme of kid in Zootopia was proposed, by u/DrummerMax64. We hope you enjoy the anthology.
1. Judy's First Case

Nick and Judy were lounging in the sun on their day off, just a stone-throw away from that familiar bridge, delightfully enjoying a couple of pawpsicles. After a moment's hesitation, Nick brought up the courage to ask a question:  
"Hey Carrots, why'd you want to be a cop?"  
Judy chuckled at the sudden inquiry.  
"Why do you suddenly want know?" She questioned back.  
"Well I- Uh… I just realized that I don't know that much about you," he stumbled slightly.  
"Nick, you've pretty much known everything since the day we met," Judy pointed out.  
"Actually, no," the fox defended. "I guessed everything about you and I was right, judging by your reactions. But now I'd like to know about you in your own words. I mean, I've done my fair share."  
Nick peered at the bunny over his aviators.  
"So fess up."  
Judy couldn't help but smile at how he had backed her into a corner.  
"Alright, fine," she relented. "If you must know, when I was a kit I didn't actually want to be a police officer, at first."  
Nick gave a mock expression of shock at this.  
"Little Carrots didn't want to be a cop?"  
"Har har," the bunny sarcastically replied. "No, I actually wanted to be a private investigator."  
"Huh, not that much of a difference except for the paycheck," Nick noted. "What made you change your mind?"  
Judy smiled as she recalled the memory.  
"I made a promise."

 _17 years earlier…_

Judy was running along the edge of the family fields, giggling as she let her paw brush against the bushes that lined the fence. She had just finished up her chores and finally had some free time to run around. She would've kept on running if she didn't hear the couple of voices coming from the other side of the bushes.  
Always the curious one, Judy slipped into the brush to get a better look. Looking towards the voices, the little bunny shrank back at the sight of two coyotes that she had never seen before.  
"… Told you we should've stopped back in Herrison, but noooo, you wanted to get there as soon as possible. Well congratulations, Sis! This is the exact opposite of what you wanted!" The male coyote ranted, dressed in his green-striped sweater.  
"And how was I supposed to know there was nothing between there and Zootopia?" The female in the blue T-shirt stoically replied. "Last time I checked, Steve, you were the one who lost our only map."  
"Oh this is my fault, now?" Steve retaliated. "I told you that there was nothing between Herrison and Zootopia and you didn't believe me!"  
"And I still don't believe you, there can't be nothing out here!"  
"Look around, Lulu! Do you see anything? Anyone else?"  
Judy tried holding in a laugh, finding Lulu to be a funny name. This prompted the coyotes to look towards her hiding place.  
"Maybe not see, but I can hear," Lulu smirked. "Whoever you are, we know you're there. So you better come out."  
Judy slowly walked out of the bushes, feeling very small and afraid of the two predators that she didn't know.  
"Hey there, little one," Female coyote greeted as she knelt down to Judy's height. "We're not going to hurt you. We just need a little help."  
"Lulu, stop. You're scaring her," Steve interjected.  
"Will you quit calling me that!" The coyote glared at her brother. "You know I don't like that name! It's already bad enough that she knows; don't go enforcing it!"  
"Your name's not Lulu?" Judy asked, slightly less afraid than before.  
"It is," Lulu sighed. "But I prefer using my nickname instead."  
"What's your nickname then?"  
"I'll tell you if you tell me your name," the coyote offered.  
"My name's Judy, Judy Hopps!" The bunny proudly stated.  
"Well it's nice to meet you Judy," Lulu grinned. "My name's Blue and this is my brother Steven."  
"Just 'Steve' is fine," he corrected.  
"'Blue'…" Judy repeated with a cocked head. "Like the colour?"  
"Yep, just like my shirt," Blue smiled. "It's my favourite colour, by the way."  
"So is yours green?" The bunny continued, pointing to Steve.  
Blue laughed at the logic that Judy had fallen on, much to the dismay of her brother.  
"Not really, actually," he answered. "It's just another sweater."  
"Okay," Judy accepted. "Did you say you were in trouble?"  
Blue looked to her brother, who returned her a look.  
"Well, we're not in trouble, per se," she admitted. "Our car just ran out of gas back up the road. Do you know of any gas stations nearby?"  
Judy's answer was immediate:  
"Nope."  
This caused the two coyotes to groan in despair.  
"But I think my Dad might," she quickly added.

It didn't take long for Judy to lead the pair towards the barn where her father was currently working, fixing up the tractor for the umpteenth time.  
"Hey Dad, I'm back! And I brought some friends!" She called out.  
"Oh, that's nice, Judy," Stu replied. "Are you gonna go play- SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY! JUDY GET OVER HERE, QUICK!"  
"Da-ad! These are my friends!" The kit quickly defended. "Her name's Blue and this is her brother Steve. They ran out of gas, so they can't get to Zootopia. Do you know any gas stations nearby?"  
Stu was a mess of blubberings and stammers as he tried to get his wits together; the two coyotes just looked to each other not knowing what to make of the situation.  
"Um- Uh- Okay, you two need gas. Is that correct?" Judy's father asked uneasily.  
"Yes," Blue promptly answered. "If it's too much, we'll be fine with directions to the nearest gas station."  
"Uh… No, you wouldn't want that," Stu admitted. "The nearest one is at least three miles down the road. I can give you a lift as soon as I fix the tractor, though. I'm afraid my truck is a tad bit small for the both of you."  
"Thanks Dad!" Judy said as she hugged him eagerly.  
"How long until the repairs are done?" Steve cautioned to ask.  
"Maybe an hour?" The rabbit shrugged.

While they waited for Stu's repairs to be done, Judy showed her new friends around the Hopps household. The coyotes were impressed by the sheer amount of bedrooms they passed before stopping by Judy's.  
"... And this one's my room." The kit pointed out as they rounded the bend in the hallway.  
Said room's door decided to open just at that moment, revealing an older doe with a tall basket of clean laundry.  
"Oh! Judy! Good timing. I just left your clothes on your bed so you can put... Them... Sweetheart, who are these mammals?" The doe asked, surprised by Judy's guests.  
"These are my new friends, Mom!" She beamed. "This is Blue and that's her brother Steve. Their car ran out of gas and Dad said he'd give them a lift to the gas station when the tractor's fixed."  
"Oh. Well then I guess that's alright. Bonnie Hopps, nice to meet you two."  
Bonnie balanced the basket on her hip and extended a paw in greeting to the coyotes.  
"Blue Fangstien," Blue smiled as she shook paws. "We're sorry for the inconvenience, Mrs. H."  
"Please, call me Bonnie. And it's no problem at all, I just hope you two didn't scare my husband too much," she smirked.  
"I think we did a fair number on him," Steve admitted apologetically. "Seeing your kit being followed by a couple of Predators... Yeah, that sounds so much worse out loud..."  
"Steve, it's fine," his sister assured him. "He was happy to help. Speaking of which..."  
The female coyote eyed the basket that Bonnie was supporting.  
"Would you like some help with that? We've got time to kill anyway."  
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" The doe smiled.  
Almost without warning, she passed the basket over to Steve who nearly buckled under its weight.  
"Sis... A little help... Please..."

With Judy and Bonnie leading the way and the Fangstiens carrying the laundry, the troop continued down the hall.  
"So what exactly brings you two to Bunnyburrow?" The doe asked.  
"Oh we're not stopping, just passing through," Steve replied.  
"They're going to Zootopia!" Judy excitedly added.  
"Oh! That's nice," Bonnie smiled. "And what are you two going to do there?"  
"Steve's helping me move," Blue answered. "Found a nice place for cheap and a temp job until I get my bearings."  
"What's a 'tent job'?" Judy asked, turning around to start walking backwards.  
Blue chuckled.  
"I said 'temp', Squirt. As in 'temporary'," she clarified. "Meaning I don't intend to keep that job for long."  
"Then what are you going to do after?" The curious kit pressed.  
"I'm going to open an office and be a private investigator," the coyote smirked.  
Judy's head cocked at the new word.  
"Huh?"  
"She wants to be a detective, Judy," Steve jumped in.  
"Like with a magnifying glass?"  
"Yup. A giant one," Blue playfully added.  
"Wow!"

...

"And that's the last of it," Bonnie announced as she took the remaining clothes out of the basket.  
"For a while I thought this basket was bottomless," Blue joked, meriting a giggle from Judy. "We could put this away for you, if you want, Bonnie."  
"That would be much appreciated," the doe smiled. "Judy, sweetheart, would you mind showing Blue and Steve to the laundry room?"  
"Sure thing, Mom," Judy beamed. "Follow me guys, it's this way!"  
And at that, the kit darted down the hallway, much to the chagrin of her mother.  
"Judith!" She called out. "How many times do I have to tell you to not run inside the burrow?!"  
"Sorry Mom!" Judy called back, her voice echoing around the bend.  
"You two better go on after her," Bonnie chuckled. "I hope you have a nice trip to Zootopia."  
The coyotes waved her off as they followed the path Judy had taken, catching up to her fairly easily.  
"Come on, you slowpokes!" The kit laughed as she skipped backwards down the hall. "Maybe Dad got the tractor fixed too!"  
"Hey, Judy, maybe you should-"  
Steve's warning came a little too late as Judy bumped into another kit, the two of them crashing to the floor.  
"Ow."  
"Oops. Sorry Fred," Judy apologized as she helped her older sibling up.  
"It's fine, Judy," he sniffed as he wiped some tears.  
"Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry if I did!"  
"No, no, Judy, I'm fine..." he assured her. "It's just..."  
"What?"  
"My science project got destroyed," the kit admitted, his ears drooping as he did so.  
"What science project?" Blue pried as she stepped closer, startling Fred a bit. "Sorry. I'm a friend of Judy's, Blue Fangstien."  
"I'm Fred," he replied as he shook her paw. "You sure make the weirdest friends, Judy."  
"Hey!"  
"I meant that in a good way!" Fred defended.  
"So... About that science project?" Blue pressed.  
"Well, I made a clock that runs off of a potato for the science fair," he explained.  
"And you call me weird," Judy shot.  
"And I won first place for it."  
"Really weird."  
"No one's asking for your commentary, Judy!" Fred deadpanned.  
"Sorry..."  
"So what happened?" The female coyote asked. "How was it destroyed?"  
"I don't know," the kit shrugged. "After the award ceremony, I went to the bathroom. And when I got back, it was smashed."  
"So you don't know who did it?" Steve asked.  
"I'm pretty sure it was Gideon Grey," Fred scowled. "He hates not winning."  
Blue raised a brow at this.  
"That's a bold accusation, considering that you don't know that he did it," she noted.  
"But he's a big, mean bully," Judy explained. "He must've done it."  
Blue shook her head at this.  
"No one should be pointing fingers without evidence," she told the kits. "It's not nice and it's not right."  
"You sound like my mom," Fred frowned.  
Steve had a hard time repressing a laugh at the comment.  
"Tell you what, how about we find out who actually smashed your project?" The female coyote offered. "I need to get some practice in anyway."  
"Practice?" Fred parroted with a cock of the head.  
"Blue's going to be a private invesigator in Zootopia," his sister explained.  
"That's 'investigator', Squirt," Blue corrected. "So how about it?"  
"Fine. But I'm pretty sure that Gideon did it," the older kit firmly decided.  
"We'll see about that," the coyote smirked. "So where did this science fair take place?"  
"Back at school," Fred told her. "It's not that far from here."

Fred's definition of "not that far" was fairly different from that of the coyotes. The school was, in fact, a quarter-mile from the Hopps burrow. Luckily, Stu had the tractor all fixed and was happy enough to give everyone a ride.  
Fred led everyone to the gymnasium, where the projects were still on display along with a few children and parents still hanging around.  
"My project's over there."  
He pointed to a table with a mess of what looked like a mashed potato and wires, the cardboard presentation still standing with a blue ribbon on it. The clock itself was in pieces on the floor.  
"Wow, that's some destruction," Blue noted.  
"Yeah," Stu agreed, slightly shocked at the display. "Whoever did that sure made quite a number."  
Blue looked around the table, trying to find any clues that might lead her on to something. She noticed a small rectangle standing erect in the potato puree. She picked it up and wiped it clean, revealing it to be a baseball card.  
"This didn't happen to be a part of your project now, did it?" She asked Fred.  
"No. Why would I need a baseball card?" He argued.  
"I think we have our first clue, then," the coyote reasoned. "It was probably dropped by whoever smashed the project."  
She looked over to the group for a moment.  
"Does anyone have a notepad and pen?"

Nearly everyone shook their heads, only Judy smiled.  
"I brought a pad and a crayon," she admitted, pulling them out of her pocket.  
"Great! You can be my assistant and take notes," Blue smirked.  
The kit beamed at the prospect of helping and started to furiously note down the clue that the coyote had found.  
"Now you said that Gideon didn't like 'not winning', correct?" Blue questioned, Fred nodding in response. "That means that he participated in the science fair, right?"  
"Yeah. His project's over there."

Gideon's science project was the stereotypical science project, The Baking Soda Volcano. Unlike at Fred's table, his project was still standing, and the little tod was standing guard by his project when Blue walked over with her group.  
"You wouldn't be Gideon, by any chance?" She asked.  
"Yeah, thaht's me. Why do you wannuh know?" He grumpily replied.  
"Just making sure I've got the right mammal," the coyote shrugged. "Did you hear about what happened to Fred's project?"  
"Yeah, ah heard. And ah ain't dun nuthin'!" He defensively added.  
Blue nodded before looking at his project display.  
"Baking Soda Volcano, huh? Classic," she grinned.  
"It's cool, ain't it? I even got some extra tops to make the spray go higher!" He smirked while showing the different pieces in front of the volcano.  
"Oh! So you're explaining how different openings cause variations in pressure and flow?" Fred suddenly questioned before covering his mouth.  
"No one asked you, ya nerd!" The fox growled.  
"Did you get any prizes for your project?" Blue questioned, having noticed a ribbon on the presentation board.  
"Ah got third place," he frowned. "Beaten by a 'tater and a lightbuhlb."  
"A lightbulb?" She repeated.  
"Yeah, Travis got second place. Some friend he is."  
"So which one is Travis's project?" Blue asked as she started looking around.  
"Thaht one over there," Gideon replied with a jerk of his thumb towards their left.

Travis's project was a lot more elaborate than his friend's was: a lightbulb was wired up to a large wheel that was hollow in the middle. But just like Gideon's, it was still standing in one piece. Scuttling around the presentation table was a small ferret, eyes darting here and there while muttering to himself. Blue cleared her throat as she approached, pulling the critter out of his trance.  
"Uh… Yes?" He hesitantly asked.  
"Are you Travis? Gideon said that this was his project," she explained.  
The black-masked mammal's face lightened up at this.  
"Yeah, that's me alright. Come to see second place in the science fair?"  
"Yup. Gideon said he was beaten by a lightbulb. Now I can see the lightbulb, but what's going on with the rest of this?" The coyote asked, genuinely intrigued.  
"This here is a mammal-powered dynamo," Travis explained, patting the large wheel. "When I run inside it, it generates enough electricity to power that lightbulb."  
"Huh. Neat," Blue smirked, impressed by the display. "Sounds like it could've won first place, to be honest."  
"Yeah, I know," the ferret deadpanned. "A stupid potato clock. Anybody can stick two pieces of metal into a plant and call it a science project."  
"Hey! I had a good presentation to go with that!" Fred piped up in his defense.  
"And I worked on this for two weeks in my dad's garage, Cotton Butt!" The ferret spat. "Now would all mind leaving? I'm trying to find something."

The group huddled back in front of Fred's project table after being sent away.  
"I think I've got a fair guess at who's our culprit," Blue admitted to everyone.  
"Who is it?" Fred pushed.  
"Easy now, where's the fun in telling you?" She calmed him. "Besides, it's only a guess. Judy, did you remember to take notes?"  
"Uh-huh!" The kit nodded as she waved her notepad.  
"Then let's go through the list," the coyote offered.  
Judy had written down that they had found a baseball card in the potato mess on Fred's table. She had also noted that Gideon was not happy having only gotten third place in the science fair, while also blatantly saying that he didn't smash Fred's project. Judy then had written down that Travis's project was in second place and that he hated Fred's project for being "stupid".  
Everyone, apart from Blue, were scratching their heads on what to make of these clues. She shook her head at how close and yet how far they were.  
"I think you missed something there, Squirt," the coyote hinted. "Didn't Travis say he was looking for something?"  
A sense of realization appeared on Judy's face.  
"Like a baseball card?"  
"Bingo," Blue grinned.

The group arrived at Travis's table to find the ferret still darting around everywhere.  
"Hey Travis, you said you were looking for something?" Blue called out.  
"Yeah? What about it?"  
"Was it a baseball card, perhaps?"  
"How did you-" He saw the card that Blue was holding up in her paw. "My card!"  
He was at her feet in a moment and jumping to try and grab the card, the coyote holding it just out of reach.  
"Funny thing about this card, Travis," Blue started. "We found it in the mess over at Fred's table."  
The ferret froze at this.  
"Care to say anything about that?"  
Travis shrank as the group closed in around him.  
"Tell us the truth and you can have your card back," Blue offered.  
"Fine…" He said in defeat. "I destroyed your clock, Fred. I was just so frustrated that I only got second place for all my hard work. So when I saw the chance, I took it. I'm sorry."  
Fred stepped forward and put a paw on his shoulder, surprising the ferret.  
"To be completely honest, I thought your project was gonna win," he smiled. "I mean, this is so freakin' cool!"  
"Still, I feel really bad about smashing your work…"  
"Hey, it was just a stupid potato, right?"

…

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly. Stu drove the group into town where Steve filled up a canister with gasoline at the gas station. Then it was a long way back to the Fangstien's car.  
Judy was sad to see her new friends about to go, having thought it was fun to be a detective for the day. While Steve was filling up the tank, Judy scooted over to Blue as she was fastening the roof rack and pulled on her pant leg to get her attention. The coyote knelt down to her height when she begged her closer.  
"What is it, Squirt?" Blue asked the saddened kit.  
"Do you really have to go now?" Judy asked.  
"Sadly, my temp job starts tomorrow, so we're already behind schedule as it is," the coyote admitted. "Did you like being a detective today?"  
"I thought it was really fun!" The kit replied as she bounced in place.  
"I know, right?"  
"When I grow up, I wanna be an investigator just like you!" Judy beamed. "I'm gonna move to Zootopia too and become a private investigator."  
Blue chuckled at her enthusiasm.  
"Sorry kiddo, but I can't let you do that," she told her friend, stopping the kit's excitement. "I'm going to be the number one private investigator in Zootopia and if you come along and try to do the same, well… I'd hate to have you as a rival."  
"Oh…"  
Judy's ears drooped at what she meant.  
"But you liked helping your brother out, right?"  
The kit nodded.  
"What other kind of job do you think helps mammals in need?" Blue asked her.  
Judy shrugged.  
"I'm thinking a police officer," the coyote admitted. "Officer Judy Hopps has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"But all the police officers are either Predators like you or really, REALLY big," Judy complained. "I don't think I could be one."  
"You know…" Steve cut in as he rounded the car. "Us Fangstiens have a saying: If you use your head and take things one step at a time, anything is possible."  
"What my brother means is that, as long as you believe in yourself, you can be whatever you want," Blue clarified. "And if you can keep it a secret between the three of us… This was actually my first case."  
Judy was bewildered.  
"But you managed to solve it before everyone else did! You made it look easy!"  
"Trust me, it was. I just read a lot of Sherlock Howles stories," she admitted. "It's what inspired me to want to be a private investigator."  
Judy giggled at that.  
"Well if you're going to be the number one private investigator in Zootopia, then I'll be the number one police officer," she grinned.  
"I'll hold you to that, Squirt," Blue smiled as she stepped into the car. "Call me when you make it big."  
"I will!" She called out as the coyotes started down the road, waving them goodbye as they did.

 _Present Day…_

The female mountain coyote stretched out at her desk, still waiting on meeting with a customer for their payment of the case she completed for them. She was scratching at an itch on her ear, the fur dyed her favourite shade of blue, when the phone rang. She picked it up before even the first ring was over.  
"Blue's Clues Private Detective Agency, Blue speaking," she greeted almost automatically.  
"Sorry, I was hoping to speak with Lulu?" The voice on the other end asked.  
Blue paused at this, she had been very careful with who she gave her name to ever since she first arrived in Zootopia. And the few mammals who did know, did not sound like the female on the phone.  
"Who is this?" She cautioned.  
"Just a bunny officer who wants to say hello to an old friend," the female replied.  
Blue did a double-take at that information.  
"Judy Hopps?"  
"Hey Blue," Judy greeted. "How's business?"


	2. Avast, Ye Scurvy Mammals!

By: D3ath_0ps

" _In Hamsterdam there lived a maid, mark well what I do say! In Hamsterdam there lived a maid, and she was mistress of her trade…"_

The band of mammals bellowed their hearty shanty as they performed their daily tasks for their captain, standing boldly at the helm along with his trusty navigator. Each and every movement the crew made reflected nearly every beat that passed them by. It was as if the crew of the _Malbrook_ were all cogs in this grand machine that couldn't be stopped even if someone dared to try. It brought a spirited grin to the captain's snout. A happy crew meant a happy captain, and a happy captain meant smooth sailing ahead.

Hoofs tapped on the wood of the ship's wheel as he looked upward at the sapphire sky. The sun was shining bright over the ship and the deep blue ocean around them. Amongst the cobalt sky above them were spots of puffy white clouds that threatened to block the warmth of the sun's rays, but failed in doing so.

Far to the southwest behind them were dark ominous clouds that seemed to hold quite a hazardous storm, but thankfully looked to be just a hair slower than they were. The thought eased the captain's mind.

A gust of wind blew through the deck, rustling the captain's coat and his floppy hazelnut- colored ears. With a smirk, the antelope shut his eyes and welcomed the cool air into lungs as they filled to capacity, then slowly emptied until the breeze had finally died down.

"Captain," a call bellowed from the main deck. The captain opened his eyes and looked to the stairs leading to the helm to spot a zebra slowly stepping towards him. He knew this mammal as the quartermaster of his ship, and one of his closest friends.

With the smirk still adorning his face, the antelope replied as his friend stopped at the peak of the steps, "What is it, Marty?"

"I believe we're approaching an island on the port side, Captain. Orders?"

The buck looked away from the stairs and outward to the left. Sure enough, beyond the vast amounts of water between them, he could see the island in the distance. However, this appeared to be no ordinary island. No, it was _the_ island.

"It's Dead Mammal's Gorge."

No amount of fog covering the island could be a clearer indicator. Home to some of the treacherous landscapes on the seven seas, and one of the most sought after treasures in the Caribbean, it was said to have been an island of legend, a mere fairy tale for the young and adventurous. Now it was staring him dead in the snout, ripe for the picking.

For months the crew of the _Malbrook_ had been searching for this island hoping to get lucky. Now, today was their chance.

"Dead Mammal's Gorge? I thought that was just a myth?"

"Well, it looks like the stories were true then. Tell the crew to prepare for docking. It's about time that we take what's now rightfully ours."

"Will do, Captain." The zebra scurried down the stairs and onto the deck below. He put his hoofs up to his mouth and began to loudly relay the captain's orders to the other crooning sailors. "Listen up lads," he began, hushing the lot as they turned their heads in his direction. "We're altering our course to the island located on our port side. We believe that this is none other than the island of legend, Dead Mammal's Gorge. It's said that this island holds bountiful treasures beyond imagination. You know what I say? I say we take it, and make this little fairy tale a reality. What do you say, mates?"

With a rowdy cheer, the crew raised their swords up in the air and looked to their captain.

"Well, get to it! Set course for Dead Mammal's Gorge, full sail!"

"Aye!" The lot of them bellowed, the captain included. He quickly spun the ship's wheel leftward toward the island in the distance. Once everyone else had resumed doing their normal tasks, another jubilant shanty blessed the ears of everyone on deck. Deckhands pulled on the various ropes scattered around the deck and began to firmly pull. With their strength the rest of the closed sails above flapped and wood creaked softly as they opened to catch the breeze, their vessel now picking up even more speed.

The antelope put on a confident grin as the breeze once again ruffled his outfit. Their course was set.

"Winds are looking to be in our favor, Captain," the high voice of the ship's navigator informed him from behind. "Seems like smooth sailing ahead."

"Thank you, Sally."

"Say, Jason," the gazelle started, pulling the antelope's attention away from his post, "when this is over and we're back home…did you want to come over and—"

"Let's try and not break what we're doing just yet. I think we're close to actually finishing one of these this time. I wouldn't want to ruin it for everyone else by breaking our own rules."

Before turning back to the front of the ship, he caught a glimpse of her sunken expression and couldn't help but feel slightly empathetic for her advance. He couldn't just leave it at that.

"I didn't say that I wouldn't now, did I? Cheer up lass, of course I'll take you up on yer little offer. We just need to take this here treasure first."

Although he couldn't see the gazelle behind him, he was sure that there was some sort of smile plastered all over her face. In the meantime, he would try his best to deter the crimson that had flushed into his ears by putting on a sly grin of his own. He only hoped that he didn't overdo the pirate inflection in his awkward state.

He eventually shook the feeling off to abide by his role, keeping a firm grip on one of the spokes of the wooden wheel.

Fortunately for them, it didn't take long to close the distance between them and the island. The crew were still singing their tunes and having a great time overall, apart from the ominous fog that had enveloped the circumference of the fabled island. Navigating through it should be an easy feat with their lookout stationed in the bird's nest above. What did have their captain concerned, however, was the looming threat that had stealthily swooped in above them. Gone were the few clouds that dotted the sky earlier; now, the heavy grey clouds that he'd spotted only moments before had suddenly closed in on them, and they looked to be even darker as he examined them further.

This wasn't good. If the storm were to close any more distance on them, he would have to consider their expedition effectively kaput until their next voyage on the high seas. Another variable he'd have to consider was the fact that they might never have this chance again. Finding, let alone seeing this mystical isle, was an achievement that no pirate had ever done—at least to his knowledge. If they gave up now, they would surely lose this opportunity. The last thing on his mind was the safety of the crew. Sailing in this weather was no laughing matter, and should be done with extreme caution. Doing so could very well cost them several members of the crew if they weren't careful.

 _No,_ the antelope decided. _We should be fine. Time is on our side._

"Half-sail!" Jason barked to the crew, receiving a cheering verification that his order was indeed heard. "We're sailing into a think mist, mates. Be ready."

Although it was indeed risky, there would be no other chance like this again. If they were quick, they would be in and out before the storm could do any real damage. It was now a race against the clock, and he was gambling it all with Davy Jones.

The _Malbrook's_ bow finally pierced the fog and eventually was consumed entirely. Now they were effectively blind.

Out on their port side, he swore he could see the ghastly remains of an old ship.

"Visibility is getting worse Captain," Sally warned.

The zebra lurking on the deck with the crew ran back towards the helm and scurried up the stairs. "Water's getting choppy and now we can't see anything down below. What should we do, Captain?"

 _We can't see a thing,_ he pondered to himself.

Then, an idea popped into his head.

"Christie," Jason shouted to the mammal stationed above. "Can you see the opening of the island from where you are?"

The bunny sprung up and extended the spyglass in her grip before pointing it toward the island. While the three waited for a response, a soft crack of lightning hit their ears.

"Aye, I can see it Jason. But we barely have enough clearance to clear the roof of it."

"Will we still be able to clear it?"

"From here…I suppose we might."

"Great, we're taking the chance. Do we need to alter our course at all?"

"N—Yes. We do…steer the ship just an eighth starboard, and slow'er down a pinch. Wouldn't want to ram us into the rocks."

"Aye."

He did as he was told as they traveled blindly though the mist, shouting to the crew below to bring the ship to quarter-sails. The ship slowed down to a crawl as they traversed through the thick fog.

Just as they got comfortable with the speed and direction, the doe stationed above barked to them, "Just a touch to port, Captain." With a slight touch of the ship's wheel, the captain obeyed his crewmate above. "Keep her steady. Should be a straight shot from where I'm looking."

Jason kept the wheel as steady as he could. His hoofs gripped the prongs of the wheel hard. Beyond the brown fur that stood straight up on his head and inside the depths of his thoughts were a plethora of prayers that hoped for the ship's safe passage. He couldn't bear to watch. He closed his eyes.

For a moment, time felt as if it became still. Nothing happened. Nothing could be heard beyond the sounds of water hitting the side of their ship. Not even the breeze stirred. Nothing. He began to fear the worst.

Then, a light voice and a nudge beckoned his attention.

"Captain," Sally said. "Look."

Slowly, the captain's eyes opened back up to the foggy air around him, waiting for something, anything to go wrong. But then, he saw it. At the bow of the vessel the fog was beginning to clear, revealing to the crew of the _Malbrook_ a sight to behold.

They were now inside the center of the island of legend, Dead Mammal's Gorge.

Where to begin. Apart from the calmer waters that ceased to rock their boat, the soft breeze had also returned while it brushed over the various decks. The grey clouds above were the only detail that managed to remain the same upon passing through to the other side. Out of everything he could see, that was the beginning of the growing list.

Along the sandy shores of the inner isle were what appeared to be rustic looking buildings scattered sparingly across the landscape. At first glance it appeared that each and every one had seen some considerable wear and neglect over the years. Vines had crawled along the sides of the outer walls, and holes were starting to form on the rooftops. No mammal had inhabited the area in quite some time it seemed. Not that Jason was complaining. Now he wouldn't have to deal with any opposition while searching for treasure.

Extending from the shore and the small town was a battered, decrepit wooden dock, which at one time could have held a ship the size of the _Malbrook._ If only it were remotely usable now.

"Who do you think could've lived here?" Marty uttered as he gazed upon the town.

"Word has it that this place used to be Black Maw's base of operation," the captain answered.

"Seriously?" Sally questioned doubtfully.

The antelope nodded. "After plundering the seas and looting all that he could, he would take count of what he stole and stored it right here among mammals he could trust. That way, he could use the place as a front later on. Eventually, when Black Maw was finally killed in battle, the many treasures he stole were taken and sold off quickly one by one.

"According to some sources, there's still a few treasures that were mistakenly left behind by those too hasty to separate themselves from the likes of Black Maw, such as random bits and trinkets of silver and gold. Some even mentioned that there could be some weaponry scattered around too."

"So how come this place didn't get raided by the British then?" Sally asked. "If this place is as special as some mammals say, then how come they didn't go looking for it?"

"For the same reason this place slipped into legend. They couldn't find it. Those associated with it quickly made themselves scarce and separated themselves from the trade overtime. The loyalty of Black Maw's men prevented the Brits from finding his loot, and it remains untouched to this day."

"Until now," Marty smiled.

"Exactly." When Jason felt that the ship was close enough to the island, he turned back to his friend. "Tell the crew to lower anchor and prepare the mini-boats. We're going in."

"I'll stay with the ship," Sally said. "Just as a precaution."

"Sounds like a plan." He took a step closer to her and brought his voice down to a whisper. "Make sure no one takes the ship."

"Aye, Cap," she affirmed in her normal voice.

With her word, the captain and quartermaster left the sanctity of the helm down the stairs and to the main deck below. He was met with gleeful faces and exuberant song while the crew finished getting the smaller boats ready for travel. When they got the okay, the zebra and antelope stepped into one of them, along with two other bucks that sat in the rear.

Before they were dropped into the water, the captain turned to the male gazelle holding the rope beside him. "Make sure the other boat follows close behind. I feel that storm will be on us at any time now."

The gazelle nodded. "Aye."

The lot of them were lowered to the water below. With the time they had the captain turned to the rabbits and gave them an order. "When we get into the water we need to haul it over to the shore. We don't have a lot of time." Both of them looked upward at the antelope's gesture to the clouds above them, then gave him a nod.

The ship hit the rocky water and made its occupants sway until they found their balance. Accomplishing that, they began to vigorously row towards the abandoned hamlet. The captain went ahead and gave his new audience the same information he shared with Marty and Sally, which was met with nearly the same questions and reactions.

A distant lightning strike a ways away managed to reach their ears as it rumbled the air around them. They didn't have much time.

Luckily for them the trip didn't take that long. If they had to guess, it took around five minutes or so from the time they hit the water to when they hit the sandy shore. The moment they and the other mini-boat reached landfall, the lot of them scurried to the abandoned buildings they spotted upon arrival and ransacked what they could.

In a couple of the buildings, there were a couple of odd trinkets and silver doubloons, but they left much to be desired. For the most part the interior of the buildings were stripped of anything useful—no furniture, no treasures or weapons, not even a fork or a spoon. The place had been completely cleaned out.

One of the rabbit crewmates the captain rode in with entered the building he was currently in and delivered the same news. "Captain, we're not finding anything sir. There's nothing here."

The quartermaster appeared at the doorframe. "Nothing on our side either Captain."

The antelope circled around the edge of the room and traced his paw along the peeling wallpaper. He couldn't understand. Where was all the treasure? In all of the stories he heard, there had to have been something left behind.

"Maybe this place isn't as legendary or as remote as others say," the zebra continued. "If it was, we'd be seeing a lot more treasure, right?"

"Perhaps…" the antelope uttered blandly, disappointment clearly evident in his tone.

"What should we—"

"JASON!"

The scream made the three of them turn their heads towards the doorway. The pitch and tone distinctly told them the fear and urgency coming from this mammal. Jason already knew who exactly the source was.

"Sally."

With that realization, the three of them finally broke their character and allowed the real world to come into focus, fleeing the safety of the miniature, hollow wooden structure and out into the space that was their school's playground. Beyond the six miniature buildings that dotted their side of the play space and at the center of it all was the large mock ship plastered with the name of their elementary school: ' _Malbrook'_. And standing on the helm with the gazelle was one of the only cheetahs in the entire school, Harrison Acinon. From what Jason could see, the predator and a couple of his friends had backed the horned mammal into the corner of the deck. A mischievous laugh from the group made the antelope's blood boil.

Why would they be picking on Sally? What on Earth did she do to instigate anything from Harry? He was usually so quiet and kindhearted. What changed?

Jason had to get to the bottom of it. "Come on. Let's go check it out," he urgently told the zebra and two bunnies, taking off like a rocket over the grassy seas and toward the vessel.

When they managed to get close enough and not get spotted, they slowed down and made themselves hidden on the port side. They snuck around to the ladder on the side of the structure and silently made their way over to the stairs. At that point, they could hear the conversation above them as another round of cackles echoed over the side. A few raindrops started to fall from the sky. The storm had finally arrived.

"Look at her Harry, she looks like she's gonna cry." A cougar grinned.

"Leave me alone…" Sally uttered softly.

"Aww look at that, she's trying to say something," Harry chimed in. "What is it? Scared that we'll maul you to death?"

"Leave her alone Harry."

Jason called out to the mammals surrounding the gazelle. He and the three others walked confidently up the stairs, making themselves known while Jason stared down the small group of predators. With his headcount, there were a couple otters, a wolf, the cougar, and the cheetah. He only wished he had the rest of his crew.

"Well, what do we have here?" the wolf on the far right arrogantly instigated. "The little pirates are here to save the damsel in distress."

Paying no mind to the predator's bait, Jason took a step forward through the line of larger mammals to get to Sally, who was trapped in the corner. "Are you alright?" She nodded shakily. He then turned back to the spotted mammal who started this whole ruckus. "What's this all about Harry? Why are you picking on Sally?"

"What's it to you?" he retorted. "It's not like you would care or anything."

"Is it because we didn't let you join in on our game, because we picked a couple of bunnies over you? If it was that, I'm sorry. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind letting you join—"

"You don't get it, do you?"

The antelope's head gave a slight tilt while a crack of lightning filled the air. The rain was starting to fall steadily now. "What do you mean?"

The corner of the cheetah's mouth twitched as a small chuckle escaped his muzzle, then came his irritable reply. "You'd never understand."

"Just tell me—"

"The other's don't _want_ me to play along, idiot! All I am to them is some stupid _scary_ a-animal who can't get along with anyone other than animals who _do_ understand. Besides," Harry took a step forward towards the two smaller mammals, "what are _you_ going to do? You're just some stupid tiny antelope."

"I may be some stupid antelope," Jason shrugged, "but I do know a good mammal when I see one, Harry. You're a good mammal. Trust me. Listen, I can clear things up with my crew—"

It was at that moment that Harry gave the small prey animal a hard shove towards the railing behind him, nearly knocking the air out of him when his back collided with the wood. The onlookers gleefully 'ooh'd' and laughed at the display of dominance.

"Jason!" Sally cried as he recoiled forward. He fell weakly down onto his knees. Sally had her arm around him as he tried to find his breath again. She scowled at Harry, visibly holding back tears. "You jerk! What did you do that for?"

"I don't want to be a part of your stinking crew!"

"Kids!" a mature voice bellowed. It was Mrs. Winter, their teacher. The older snow leopard looked as if she was about to blow a gasket. If Jason knew one thing for certain, all of them were about to get in a heap of trouble.

 _ **o o o**_

Behind the closed door of Principal Goldstein's office was where students sitting in the general office of their school were whisked away to plead their cases. Some of these exchanges had even led to some of their parents being hailed over the speakerphone, which led to some heated and tearful conversations.

So far, the entirety of Harrison's posse had already told their side of the story along with Marty, Sally, and the other two rabbit crewmates that went with Jason to the ship, Edison and Victor. The only two left were Jason and Harry, sitting silently in the seating area outside the office.

When their teacher Mrs. Winter arrived on the scene, they were led away from the wooden pirate ship play-structure, through the classroom, and into the larger common room. She asked the group what they were doing on the ship and why Jason was shoved into the railing, and she was met with all their answers at the exact same time. The commotion even prompted the teachers in other classrooms to shut their doors.

In the jumbled mess of voices she managed to pick out Sally's quiet one, explaining how Harry and his group were backing her into the corner of the ship and how Jason was trying to help.

When the snow leopard heard this, her face went deadpan before turning towards the gaggle of predators. She then told them that they would be going to Mrs. Goldstein's office. Jason couldn't help but notice the disappointment on the spotted mammal's muzzle.

Now all that remained were the antelope and the cheetah, who were sitting quietly in their respective chairs.

Harry was staring at the crème-colored tile with a blank stare. His back was hunched over and his head was sunken. His spotted elbows that rested on top of his knees supported the weight of his deceptively scrawny upper body. He nervously twiddled his thumbs back and forth while he waited for the inevitable.

In the meantime, while Jason waited for his turn to step into Mrs. Goldstein's office, he set his eyes on their Class of '25 photo, his legs swinging lazily back and forth while he observed. Although he wasn't too thrilled about missing class time in the computer lab, at least there was something to do to pass the time.

Slowly, he passed the familiar faces from around the school, putting names to nearly every single one of them until he finally got to his own picture. Under the freshly groomed portrait of the antelope was a tiny squiggle that he could barely make out from where he was sitting. It didn't take much deduction to figure out that it was in fact his own name, _Jason F. Calhorn,_ that was inscribed under his smiling portrait.

Soon after that, he managed to spot Marty, Sally, Edison, Victor, and even the striking image of a gleeful, smiling Harry. Where in the world was _that_ version of him? Jason almost felt inclined to ask the spotted animal, the lack of understanding only further fanning the flames of his burning curiosity. Even if he didn't receive an answer, the least he could do was start up a conversation instead of sitting in bored silence.

"…!"

Before the prey animal got the chance to speak, the loud sound of the doorknob to the principal's office turning filled the air, causing Harry's posture to correct itself to a proper upright position while the two of them watched the door slowly pull open. They sat there as Sally stepped sheepishly out through the door of the office and into the hallway. After flashing Harry a small smile, she waved goodbye to him and slipped back towards their classroom before he got a chance to respond.

Not that it mattered in any way. He waved back to the speedy prey animal with a grin adorning his face.

A few seconds after the gazelle left the space, out came the small golden rabbit that ran the entire school, Mrs. Goldstein. Her paw grasped onto the edge of the door as she stood before the two animals with a yawn. Jason almost felt the need to yawn along with her, but he was successful in pushing down the unwanted urge before she groggily managed to open her eyes back up.

When she finished rubbing at her eyes, she regarded the two of them with a heavy sigh. Her eyes first looked at the antelope, who stared back at her with a hint of silent confusion, then finally at the cheetah, whose body uncomfortably tensed up.

After another few uneventful seconds, the golden rabbit smiled and began to speak in a warm tone. "Could I see Harry next, please?"

For a moment the cheetah hesitated, his ears pushed to the back of his head. After a few seconds, Harry apprehensively slipped off of the chair and sulked into her office. Mrs. Goldstein slowly stepped into the room and shut the door behind them, leaving Jason alone in the school's main office.

At first, Jason could hear the vague grumble of Mrs. Goldstein's voice from the far end of the room. He couldn't pick out any words in particular, but if he had to guess she was probably asking Harry what exactly happened on the playgrounds.

Before that mumble could finish, however, something else a tad bit clearer hit the antelope's ears. It was the sound of crying. And it was coming from the principal's office.

Harry was _crying_.

Though Jason could barely hear the cheetah's blubbering through the walls, he was just distinguishable enough to make out. Not only was he bawling his eyes out, he was confessing everything. Harry must've felt guilty about the entire thing, wishing it never happened in the first place. Jason moved his chair over sneakily so that the horse sitting behind the reception desk didn't see and put his head up against the wall, allowing him to hear the conversation better.

What came next broke his heart.

Apparently, Harry's father was recently admitted into the hospital. He miserably explained that a gang of prey animals took the elder cheetah by surprise and started hurting him, and that a cop managed to break it up before it got worse.

Harry and his mother got to the hospital to see his father and find out about the severity of his injuries. When his father told him what happened, Harry became furious. He'd spent the night over at the hospital, and that almost caused him to be late today. Regretfully, he brought that hate with him.

The last thing Jason heard before he zoned out was, "Why are mammals so mean?"

Jason couldn't believe it. He didn't want to. Why would anyone attack someone who didn't do anything wrong? It's unnecessary. It doesn't solve anything. It _didn't_ solve anything.

While Jason tried desperately to find an answer, a considerable amount of time seamlessly passed by. He only looked up when another mammal holding a damp umbrella entered the room, another cheetah. She was older, a bit stockier than most, but still young and just as pretty as the rest. He recognized this older mammal from their class's career day as Harry's mother. She rushed over to the principal's office, and then more mumbling continued.

Jason couldn't help but fear the worst. What would Harry face for his actions? Detention? Suspension? He didn't even wish to think about the thought of expulsion.

The door to the office opened once more. Two cheetahs walked slowly into the room and passed by Jason on their way out, most likely heading back to the hospital.

Once they left, Mrs. Goldstein came out of the office. She looked at him with a half-smile as she gestured for him to come inside. "Come on, looks like you're the last one."

Jason stepped into the room as the door shut behind him. He climbed into the chair, then once they were both situated in their respective areas, he asked the principal who was sitting at the edge of her desk, "Harry isn't in any trouble…is he?"

She gave him another smile, a full smile.

"No, Jason, no he is not."


	3. Choices and Chance

**By eng050599**

The lioness sat across the desk from the bespeckled physician with a blank look on her face. She realized that the rabbit was waiting for a reply of some kind; an acknowledgment that she had heard what he had said.

"Ms. Fangwell, do you understand the situation for your cub? The results from the amniocentesis show that the fetus inherited the mutant dystrophin gene." The rabbit repeated his diagnosis from earlier, hoping to elicit some kind of a response. "Given your family's history with muscular dystrophy, the odds of him surviving to adulthood are remote."

It was the diagnosis that Molly and her husband had dreaded since discovering that she was pregnant. They thought they had been careful, and she had dutifully taken her Chill Pill to block her heat, but it hadn't worked, and now the dreadful consequences were staring them in the face. She was pregnant, and the genetic dice had rolled the worst possible outcome.

She finally blinked and looked over to the tiger seated beside her. She could see the same blank stare etched on his face, and she reached out to take his paw in her own. He started slightly at the touch, but then looked over to her, and she could clearly see the sadness in his eyes. Molly shared in her husband's grief at the diagnosis, but steeled herself for what she knew was to come next.

Taking in a shuddering breath, she looked back at Dr. Talbot, and nodded her head. "We understand Doctor. Are...are there _any_ treatment options? I did some research before coming here, and there seemed to be some early gene therapy work that's being done."

She knew from the losses that her family had suffered that the odds were slim. She had buried two brothers before their 18th birthdays, and knew first paw the awful decline that had preceded their deaths. The cruelness of the disease was in its ability to decay the body, but not the mind, and they had remained as sharp as ever right up until the end.

The buck shook his head sadly at the couple. "I'm afraid not. There _is_ ongoing research into this, but nothing has progressed to a point where even clinical trials are in progress, much less anything that I can recommend as a treatment option."

Molly gave a sigh as the reality of the situation settled onto her shoulders. Her own panicked research when she had found out she was pregnant had come up with the almost the same information. The realization that she and Tom would need to make a difficult decision in the near future filled her thoughts.

" _Can I bring a cub into this world, when they'll have face what my brothers did?"_ She thought. The awful consequences of either choice in front of her came into focus. " _If I...If I end the pregnancy, and they do find a cure, will I ever forgive myself?"_

Dr. Talbot must have seen her expression, and his face softened. "I know that this news is hard to take, and you do need to consider if you want to terminate the pregnancy." He paused briefly before continuing. "If you decide to carry the pregnancy to term, this isn't a disease that will manifest for quite some time. A lot can change in a decade or more, but I can only advise on what is available now."

Tom reached over and squeezed her paw, both to comfort her, but to also convey that he did understand what they were facing. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the physician. "Thank you doctor. I think we need some time to make a decision." He said, looking back at her, and she nodded her head in silent agreement.

They both knew that the discussion would not be an easy one, but as with all things in their lives, they would make it together.

Dr. Talbot nodded his head before standing up on his chair and leaning over to offer his paw to the two larger mammals. "I understand fully, and please take whatever time you need. Just please make sure to book a follow up appointment on your way out. I'd like to keep an eye on how you're progressing, if that's all right?"

"We will Doctor. Thank you for your time." Molly said, as she shook the rabbit's paw before gathering up her things and making her way out of the office, stopping off at the receptionist's desk to make an appointment in a couple of weeks.

As they made their way to their car, the numbness that had struck her when Dr. Talbot had delivered the diagnosis started to ebb. Feeling continued to return as she entered the passenger side, and upon hearing the click of her seatbelt, something shattered inside of her. With a low moan, her visage crumbled as she wept into her paws. Tom said nothing as he reached out and embraced her, his own tears falling freely from his eyes.

What should have been a joyous event had turned to ash for the both of them. Now they needed to decide how to move on together.

* * *

They made the drive home in silence, neither of them willing to risk their words opening the floodgates of grief again. When Tom finally pulled into the driveway of their old but comfortable brownstone townhouse in Sahara Square, he reached over to place a paw on her shoulder. Looking over to him, Molly forced a smile onto her muzzle as she placed her own paw over his. She could see the questions in his eyes, but she wasn't ready for this particular conversation just yet.

"I need some time, Tom." She said quietly, and she knew that he could hear the beginnings of a growl in her voice. To say that she had a temper was an understatement, and the grief that she had felt earlier had been crystallizing into something closer to rage during the drive home.

Her husband knew her all too well, and with a small chuckle, leaned over to place a small kiss on the side of her muzzle. "Just try not to hurt yourself...or the furniture, if possible."

At almost any other time, she would have laughed at the comment, but this wasn't any other time. In the present, she was seething, and as she stepped out of the car and made her way to the front door, her ears were pinned back against her skull, and a low rumble could be heard from deep within her throat. She didn't consciously register unlocking the door, or making her way down to the basement. Once she was within the confines of her home office, the dam finally burst.

Fierce maternal instinct let loose with an incoherent roar as she lashed out at the closest wall; her claws leaving jagged furrows in the drywall. Nowhere near sated, she dashed over to a desk where the papers she had gathered in the vain hope of finding some answer to her prayers covered every inch of its surface. She lifted it above her head before slamming it into the ground with every ounce of force she could muster. The particle board snapped under the onslaught, and the articles which had coated its surface went fluttering around the room.

Molly's eyes tracked the erratic movements of the papers with the focus of a seasoned huntress, and her paws lashed out, snatching one of the objects of her rage in mid flight. Her claws sunk deeply into the paper, as she shredded the offending manuscripts into rough strips. Her ire becoming focused on the names so _proudly_ listed on the front page.

"What the fuck have you done to help!" She screamed at one group of authors. "Have you helped anyone?" She knew that no answers would be forthcoming, she tossed the shredded remains aside. Dropping to her knees, she grabbed another paper from the floor, once again burning the names of the mammals who had forced this choice upon her into her memory.

"Why can't you save him!" She screamed impotently at yet another group mammals before a swipe with her claws reduced more of the reports to repeated the process again and again, each time cursing the researchers, nature, and the Spirits themselves for the wrongs that had been committed to her unborn cub.

She was preparing to shred yet another paper when something about the names listed made her stop. Her rage started to ebb, as it was replaced with the inklings of a pattern that she had only subconsciously registered until this moment. Putting the article aside, she scanned over the ruined scraps of the previous objects of her ire. Now she was hunting for a particular set of names.

"Widelhorn, Gaitwell, Falsale, Cerval, Kent?" She mumbled to herself as she spotted the names on one of the scraps, then another, and another. Previously, her focus had been solely on the content of the papers, and she had merely glaced at the mammals behind the work. Once they had become her focus however, the grouping was clear.

In short order she arranged the scraps into chronological order, and already her mind was picking out the pattern of researchers. Both she and Tom were analysts for the ZTC, and spotting patterns was something they were both well skilled at. It was obvious that some of the transient authors were either outside collaborators, or represented the normal churn of personnel, but the core group remained the same, as did the name of their institution.

"The Honeywell Genetic Counseling Centre." She said quietly to the empty room. Looking over to the second desk that held her workstation, the final remnants of her anger dissipated, replaced by a tiny ember of hope.

" _It might be a waste of time,"_ she thought to herself as she picked herself off the floor and brought up the Centre's webpage, " _but I have nothing to lose, and so much to gain."_ Her left paw came to rest protectively on her abdomen as she started to read.

* * *

After compiling as much information as she was able, Molly had called the Centre and asked to make an appointment. When she had explained the situation to the receptionist, she had been told to head down as soon as possible, and that she would be seen by a physician immediately. It was only about an hour before Molly and Tom found themselves waiting in an exam room, the staff wasting no time in beginning a battery of tests.

A sheep nurse was just finishing a blood draw, and motioned for Molly to keep pressure on the cotton ball she had placed over the small wound. There was a knock on the door, and a young jaguar in a lab coat entered into the room. She had a broad grin on her muzzle as she offered a paw to Molly and Tom.

"Hello, Ms. and Mr. Fangwell. I'm Doctor Catherine Willows, one of the attending physicians here at the Honeywell Centre." She said as she reached over and retrieved a spare chair from the corner of the room to sit across from the couple.

"Hello Dr. Willows. Thank you for seeing us so quickly." Molly said, not able to completely mask the nervousness from her voice. "We were just told about our cub's...condition this morning, and this place kept coming up in the research."

Doctor Willows nodded, and made a few notes before continuing. "The diagnosis came from Dr. Talbot over at the Plainsview clinic, correct?" She asked, looking up at to two other felines.

Molly nodded in reply. "Yes, Doctor Pride is our usual physician there, but when we found out I was pregnant, we were referred to him."

Catherine quickly jotted down a note before tearing the page out of her notebook, and handing it over to the nurse. "Nurse Woolner, would you mind contacting Doctor Talbot's office? I want to have Ms. Fangwell's chart here as soon as possible, and if we can, I want to know if they still have any of the amniocentesis sample."

The nurse nodded her head in reply, "I already asked Nat to contact them regarding Ms. Fangwell's information. I'll look into the amnio sample ASAP." She said as she gathered up the samples and headed out of the room.

Looking back at the Fangwells, Catherine had a comforting smile on her muzzle. "Doctor Talbot is very good, but we'll want to verify the diagnosis before we move forward."

Molly's ears perked up at Catherine's words. "Move forward?" She asked, pleading for there to be _any_ path that could save her cub. "Is there a way to fix this?"

Catherine held up her paws in a supplicating motion. "I don't want to get your hopes up, but there may be a treatment option. We have been working on an experimental gene therapy, but there are real risks that we need to consider beforehand."

Molly held up both paws to her muzzle, not believing the words she had just heard. She felt a paw on her shoulder, and looked over to see Tom's smiling face. It was only then that she allowed herself to believe, and as she reached out to embrace her mate, tears began to matt the fur under her eyes.

Catherine leaned back in her seat, and allowed the couple a few moments to collect themselves. " _It's a rare thing when I can give mammals good news here."_ She mused internally. Looking at the two, she silently hoped that she was right, and that her colleagues project would work for the Fangwell's.

It was only a short while before Tom and Molly separated, Molly rubbing a paw over her eyes and laughing in relief. "Thank you!, Thank you! I didn't think it would be possible, I mean this was such a long shot and…" She trailed off and shrugged before once again laughing at the situation.

"Can this really work?" Tom asked quietly, his own smile slipping slightly as he waited for the other hoof to fall.

Catherine nodded both in answer but also in understanding. "I don't want to over promise on this, but the preliminary testing has been very promising. For now, I'd like to give you a full physical, and then I'll bring in Doctor Hawthorne, our genetics specialist for a consultation. Is that alright with both of you?"

"Doctor, I'm ready to do whatever it takes to save my cub." Molly said with finality, looking over to her husband she once again reached out a paw towards him. "Tom, what do you think?"

Tom took a deep breath before taking her paw in his own. "I don't want you to be hurt Molly, but I'll be right beside you all the way."

Catherine nodded before walking over to the sink to wash her paws. "Ms. Fangwell, if you would hop up on the table, I'll get started with the exam."

"Of course Doctor, but please, could you call me Molly?" She asked as she made her way to the exam table and laid back on it, as Catherine finished washing up and made her way over to her patient.

Catherine laughed at the request, and as she began working her paws over Molly's abdomen, pressing firmly here and there she nodded in reply. "Certainly Molly. Now you might feel a bit of discomfort, but let me know if you feel any sharp pains." She said, as she went about giving Molly a thorough physical exam.

* * *

It was only a short while later that Catherine left the exam room, speaking over her shoulder as she did so. "I'll have one of the nurses take you upstairs and get you settled in."

Making her way to the nurse's station, she was pleased to see that Nurse Wollner was seated behind the desk. "Mina, do you know where Dave is?" She asked, checking the duty board to see if it could provide any clues.

The sheep pointed down the hall, towards the back of the Centre. "I'm pretty sure I saw him heading to the staff lounge, Dr. Willows."

Tapping the patient's chart against the desk, Catherine smiled as she started down the hall. "Thanks! Oh, when you have a chance, could you take Ms. Fangwell upstairs?"

"I'm on it!" Mina called out in reply "And Ms. Fangwell's amnio sample is being couriered over within the hour."

"Make sure it gets down to the lab ASAP! Thanks Mina!" Cat called out over her shoulder as she quickly made her way to the staff lounge. Even before she reached it, her nose told her that the mammal she was looking for was indeed present...but that he wasn't doing well. When she poked her head inside, she found the white wolf seated at one of the tables, his head buried in his paws. One of his ears twitched in her direction, but he made no other move as she approached.

Placing a paw on his shoulder, she gave him a little shake. "You okay, Dave? You're looking a little rough around the edges."

The wolf didn't lift his head, and just sighed before replying. "I've had four D&Es today Cat; four of them." He finally lifted up his head and looked Catherine in the eye. "I didn't get into medicine to be some kind of ghoulish reaper."

Catherine nodded in understanding, and took a seat across from the wolf. Even though she was younger, she had been practicing for the better part of three years now. Dave had been...well crazy enough to go through not one, but two residencies in addition to earning his doctorate, and the position at the Centre was his first real posting. He had only been there for a couple of months, and the realities of this place were a hard lesson for any mammal to bare.

She had a smile on her muzzle, as she passed over Ms. Fangwell's chart. "Would you like a chance to make a difference then?"

Dave's ears perked up at her words, and he quickly flipped through the chart. His eyes widened as he took in the details. "We need to talk to Doug, now." Was all he said before dashing out of the room, leaving a surprised Catherine seated alone in the lounge.

"Well at least that improved his mood." She mumbled to herself as stood up and made to catch up to her colleague.

* * *

She could tell that Dave had wasted no time, as she could already hear his voice coming from Doug Wilson's office. As the chief physician at the Centre, he'd need to sign off on the gene therapy...if they went ahead with it of course.

"Slow down Dave. What's got you so wound up?" Doug said as Catherine entered into the office. The rabbit was looking over Ms. Fangwell's chart, as Dave was pointing out the previous test results.

Dave looked up and motioned Catherine over with an eager paw. "Cat just brought this to me, Doug. It's a textbook case of a mutation in the DMD gene, and exactly what the microDMD vector was designed to treat."

Doug looked up at the two other physicians, concern etched on his face. "We received the go ahead to test it, but I thought your viral vector was optimized for canines?"

Dave nodded in reply, but waved his paw at the chart dismissively. "Yes, but we already have a modified feline adenovirus in the lab from the earlier cell culture work, and the protein sequence is conserved enough between _Canidae_ and _Felidae_ , that it will work on both."

"So this can really work?" Catherine asked, relieved that her instincts had been right.

Doug was the first to reply. "It would appear so, but the risks to the patient are significant." The buck looked over to Dave. "You'll have to put her on immunosuppressants to prevent her reacting to the adenovirus. Even the detyrosinated variant you proposed is highly immunogenic."

"I know." Dave said, his face serious as he considered the options. "We'll need to make sure they know the risks, but we can use polyclonal antibody therapy to knock down her immune response, and keep it suppressed until the virus can do its work...but I'll need to go in and treat the individual muscle groups of the fetus."

" _In utero_ surgery?" Catherine asked, knowing full well the extreme risks associated with any procedure of this type. "You can't just administer the virus into the amniotic sac, or the umbilical vein?"

Dave shook his head, "I can do it endoscopically to minimize the risk, but the transformation efficiency is too low if we just administer the treatment intravenously. At this stage of the pregnancy, all of the tissue types are present, but the number of cells is still low, and we need to have at least half of them with the corrected gene if this is going to work."

Doug shook his head, and rubbed his chin with his paw. "I'll authorize this, but only if both of you make it clear how risky this is. The safest option is to terminate the pregnancy, and they needs to know that as well."

Both Dave and Catherine's ears pinned back at the thought, but they nodded in understanding.

"I'll make sure she knows _all_ her options, and the risks of each." Catherine said finally before she gathered up her patient's chart and motioned for Dave to follow. "Come on Dave, let's go."

* * *

After a round of introductions, the four mammals were seated around a small table in one of the conference rooms on the second floor. The room's white board was now filled with Dave and Cat's scribblings as they laid out the details of the treatment.

"So those are the best options, Molly." Catherine said after detailing the treatments. "I can't overstate the risks involved, but this does offer the best outcome for your cub."

Tom leaned back in his chair, and ran a paw over his eyes. "So this virus thing hasn't been tried before? She'd be the first?" Tom asked, the apprehension and fear he felt was a tangible odor in the room.

Dave was the one to reply. "Yes, we've done a lot of testing, but Ms. Fangwell would be the first mammal that we've tried this on." He paused briefly. "The risks are very real, and even if the treatment is successful, you and your cub will have an increased risk of cancer in the future, but this is the only way we have a chance of fixing this."

Tom looked over at his mate and took her paw in his own. "Dear, if you want to do this, I'll be right by your side."

Molly met his gaze, and he could already see that she had made her decision. "I need to try Tom."

Tom nodded, and leaned over to give his mate a kiss on the cheek. "Then we do this together."

Catherine had a smile on her muzzle when she heard their decision. Rising to her feet, she motioned for the Fangwells to follow. "Then let's get started on saving your son." She said confidently as she led the pair down the hall towards the room that would be Molly's home for the foreseeable future.

* * *

The following days were filled with nausea and pain for Molly. The immunosuppressive drugs left her feeling weak as a newborn kitten. Her room smelled perpetually of disinfectant, and every surface was seemingly covered in plastic. Throughout the entire ordeal, Doctor Willows and Tom had been by her side.

She hadn't been able to truly touch her mate since the treatments had begun. Even now, he was seated next to her bed, dressed from head to toe in a white protective suit. All she could see were his eyes, but there was a fire within them, and drew strength from it.

A knock from the door drew their attention as Doctor Willows made her way through the plastic draping covering the doorway. The jaguar was similarly suited in protective clothing, and she looked to the two other felines. "Are you ready Molly?"

"Uggh, I've been ready for days." Molly said with a quiet laugh. "I just want to get this over with."

Catherine nodded, and more staff entered into the room. In short order, they had placed a plastic tent over the bed and were wheeling Molly to the operating room. Waiting inside, Molly could barely make out the features of the various mammals present, all of them fully gowned and waiting for her.

The tent was removed, and she was quickly moved onto the operating table. She recognized Doctor Wilson at the head of the table, and the buck proceeded to remove the flimsy muzzle mask from her face, and replaced it with an anaesthetic mask. "All right Molly, this is going to go exactly like I described earlier. When I say to, start counting back from one hundred nice and slow. The gas will smell a bit odd, but just breath normally. You're in the paws of the best doctors in Zootopia, so don't worry about a thing."

Molly could tell that the rabbit was smiling, and she nodded in reply, not trusting her voice. She was frightened, but this was something that she needed to do. For her cub, she would sacrifice anything.

Nodding, Doug started the flow of the anaesthetic gas. "Okay Molly, start counting."

Molly could smell the change in the air she was breathing, and started counting back as she had been instructed. "99, 98, 97" she was beginning to feel lightheaded, and struggled to keep the numbers straight in her mind. "96...95" Her eyelids grew heavy, and any further thoughts were lost when the blackness claimed her.

* * *

"Molly? Can you hear me honey?" She recognized Tom's voice, but it sounded so far away. Her thoughts were muddled, and she strained to hear his voice.

"Give her a minute Tom. She's still getting the anaesthetic out of her system." Doctor Willows' voice sounded closer, and Molly managed to push back the blackness, and cracked open her eyes.

Everything was a blur, and the dim lights of the room were enough to send spikes of pain into her skull. Every muscle was sore, and even the slightest movement produced a dull ache that radiated outward. She fought back the pain, and tried to focus on the form beside her bed.

Tom's eyes were the first thing that she saw, and she smiled warmly at her mate. "Did..did it work, Tom?" She asked, her voice husky, and her tongue still leaden in her mouth.

"Everything went fine, my love." Tom said warmly, his gloved paw reaching out to cup her cheek, while offering her a glass of water. "You've been out for almost an entire day. How are you feeling?" He asked, knowing from her expression that she was in pain.

'Remember when I got T-boned back when we were in our senior year?" She asked, taking a hesitant sip of water as Tom nodded, his smile visible in his eyes. "Yeah, that was nothing compared to this."

There were chuckles from around the room, and Molly finally noticed the other mammals standing off to the side, giving her and her husband some space. Doctor Willows retrieved a syringe from her pocket and she injected the fluid into the IV hanging over the bed.

"This should help with the muscle aches, Molly." She said, and began checking over her patient. "We knew that some of the virus was going to get into your system, so it's nothing to worry about. We'll be taking you off the immunosuppressants, and you should have any remnants of it cleared out of your system in a few days."

Dave stepped forward and pulled a chair over so that he could sit beside the lioness. "Ms. Fangwell, the procedure went exactly according to plan. We've been keeping an eye on you and your cub since the operation, and so far you haven't shown any complications." Molly could see that the wolf was also smiling under his mask. "We won't know until after he's born how well the treatment worked, but we're confident that we managed to catch it in time."

Molly took in a shuddering breath, as a weight lifted from her shoulder. She reached out and grabbed hold of Doctor Willows' paw. Squeezing it slightly, she looked between the two physicians. "Thank you! Thank you so much." She managed to choke out before she lost her composure, and tears of relief fell from her eyes.

"It's what we're here for Molly." Catherine returned the squeeze. "Now let's get you patched up and back home."

* * *

The days and weeks seemed to fly by for the couple. It had taken almost a month before Molly had been able to leave her room; her immune system was still in a state of flux, and no one had wanted to risk her health, so she had resigned herself to staying at the Centre for the duration of her pregnancy. It certainly had made things easier when, exactly three months from date of the procedure she had gone into labor, and Lucas Marcus Fangwell had made his entrance into the world.

Molly looked over to her husband, as he rocked the swaddled infant in his arms. He was so small in the tiger's paws, but she knew all too well that he would be growing like a weed in short order.

A choking cry came from the small bundle, as the cub awoke, and Tom laughed as his son once again cried out for food. "I think he's ready for a top off." He said as he made his way over to her bed, and carefully passed their son over to her waiting paws.

Molly shook her head, as she moved Lucas to her midsection, and he instinctively searched for her teat. "Hungry already, Lucas? You just ate an hour ago." Looking up at her mate she smiled. "He's a bottomless pit, and I blame you for that little inheritance."

"Oh come on Moll, I get us kicked out of _one_ buffet in college and I'm branded for life?" He said jokingly before leaning down and kissing the top of his wife's head before reaching out to cup her paw that was supporting their son. "Don't mind your mother kiddo, eat up!"

Molly reached up with her free paw, and pulled her husband's head down to her own, and the two spent a private moment chinning each other before a knock on the door distracted them from each other. Doctor Willows walked over the the pair, and the smile on her muzzle told the two everything that they needed to know.

"It worked?" Molly asked, her paw reaching up to her muzzle, as the final dregs of fear evaporated from her mind.

Catherine laughed and nodded. "It worked!" She said jubilantly. "Every sample showed a transformation rate of over seventy percent. Doctor Hawthorne is still testing to be sure, but yes, it worked!"

They were the words that Molly had prayed she would hear, and now that it was a reality, she looked down at her little miracle. There was no way that she could ever repay the mammals at the Centre.

"Thank you!" Was all Molly could manage to say, and the physician smiled in reply as she reached down to stroke the cub's cheek.

"Seeing this is all the thanks I need." The jaguar said before nodding to the two beaming parents and making her way out of the room. They were finally ready to head home, and start a new chapter in their lives.

* * *

 **Five and a half years later**

"Mom, can I have a glass of water?" The question came from the bedroom doorway, and Molly looked up to see Lucas rubbing his eyes. The stripes on his face were fainter than those of his father, but they still stood out starkly against the tawny gold base coat that he had inherited from her.

Shaking her head, Molly rose from the couch and made her way over to her son, lifting him into the air, and carrying him to the kitchen. "Come on Lucas, it's late, and you need your sleep." She said as she filled a small glass and handed it over to her cub.

Lucas smiled as he quickly downed the liquid, following it up with a loud belch. Molly laughed and lightly tapped his nose in reproach. "Manners young mammal!" she said as she carried him back to bed.

"Sorry mom." He said, but she could detect the insincerity in his voice and simply sighed as she placed him into bed and tucked him in for the third time that night.

Bending down and giving him a rough kiss on the head before shaking a digit at him and commanding "You, sleep!"

The cub laughed, but turned on his side and closed his eyes. " _It's a start, I guess"_ Molly thought to herself as she left the room. " _I should get ready for bed myself."_

He thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone on the living room table. Recognizing the number immediately, she punched the accept icon and raised the phone to her ear. "Hey Mark, how are you doing?" She said, noticing that it was almost eleven at night, and her curiosity was piqued. "You're calling pretty late. I was just heading up to bed."

There was a low rumble on the other end of the line as her brother's laughed. "Yeah, sorry to call so late, but I was out with some mammals from the precinct and I met up with someone who you might remember."

"Oh really, who?" She asked with no little curiosity.

"Remember that crazy coyote trainer I told you about a while back? Well it ends up her mate's a doctor at the Honeywell Centre, Doctor Dave Hawthorne." He said, and Molly's thoughts were instantly brought back to her time at the Centre and the mammals that had done so much to help her.

"He was a white wolf, right?" She asked, picturing the mammal in her mind. It had been years, but she still remembered all their faces.

"That's the one." Mark said. "Once I heard where he worked, I showed him a bunch of pictures of Lucas. He really seemed to get choked up about it, and he wanted me to ask if he could show them to the other staff there."

Molly paused as she remembered an email notice from the Centre not so long ago, and about a certain discussion that she and Tom had earlier that month. "Thanks for letting me know Mark, and I think I can do one better than just sending pictures."

"Oh?" Came the reply from Mark, curiosity plainly evident in his voice.

"We've been meaning to make an appointment there for a while now. This might be the perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone." She said simply.

"What are you planning, Moll?" Mark asked.

Molly laughed in reply. "You'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for calling Mark. Have a good night." She moved to end the call before her brother could get another word in edgewise.

" _I think we'll have a bit of a surprise for the Centre tomorrow."_ She thought to herself as she made her way to her bedroom, passing by their unused third bedroom. " _Unused for now at least."_

She had a smile on her muzzle as she went to tell Tom the news.

 **Notes:** For those who, after reading this, are interested in reading Lost Causes and Broken Dreams, I should point out that it isn't a very happy tale. For the anthology, I decided to go with a happy side story, but wins like Lucas are a rare thing at the Centre.

Normally, this would be where I provide some notes on the underlying science...but as I've already gone 1,000 words over the limit. I'll have to bow out for now.

***  
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments, let me know.

Eng050599


	4. Smile

_by Euphonemes_

"Don't forget to smile for the camera, sweetie!"

"Yes, Mom." Dawn stared at the floor as Mom picked at a few stray strands of her daughter's wool. The Bellwether apartment was big enough for the two of them — barely so, and Dawn would lock herself away in her tiny room for the occasional weekend to escape — but it worked. Every day, though, Mom made sure to see her daughter off.

Today, however, was a special day. The annual ritual of Picture Day would grace the halls of Dawn's elementary school. Mom had selected a prim and proper outfit, the best she could find. And Mom did have an eye for good clothing, though Dawn felt a little weird in the extra-starched blouse.

Mom beamed as she finished picking at Dawn's wool. "Wouldn't you just make the cutest politician!"

"Mom, _stop,_ " Dawn begged with a complimentary eye-roll. She wasn't necessarily shy around cameras, but she preferred her own imagination's rendering of herself. The kitchen counter was already replete with pictures of Dawn from every year of her life. Her kindergarten photo — last year's bout of fun — was the largest by far, set in a gilded frame that had been in the Bellwether clan for generations, or so Mom said.

While Dawn stared at old memories, Mom's hoof hopped back into her wool. Dawn felt a slight pinch, one that Mom soothed using her cooing soprano. "Hold on a moment, sweetie…and, there we go. Oh, this bow is _perfect_! You look like a precious little flower!"

Dawn scooted over toward a new and empty picture frame, and reflected in the glass was a cute little bow set right atop her head. Mom loved the deepest shades of purple, though Dawn believed it didn't quite match her cloudy wool. She fussed with the edges of the bow, loosening and retightening it to no real effect, before Mom pulled her away from the kitchen and shooed her out the door. Like most days, Dawn's feet resisted, straining to stay put despite Mom's insistence.

Mom's shoving hoof won the day. "Don't want you to be late — have fun at school today!"

"Okay, Mom."

The apartment door's hinges squeaked as she shut it. The hallway with carpet whose threads clung to Dawn's wool was quiet this morning. Not the comfortable and soothing quiet she admired, but the stuffy and anxious kind that made her nerves itch. She moved rapidly through the apartment complex and nearly burst out the front door into the city to begin her day.

The four blocks Dawn walked to school was never the tough part. In fact, she used this time to let her mind wander. The city in the morning had a special feel to it. The air tasted a bit cleaner, and her feet shuffled across concrete that felt a bit smoother. The sun would peek between blocky buildings, and Dawn would smile brightly as each beam warmed her face and soothed her frayed nerves.

She clung to the curb, keeping a quarter-block between her and the gaggle of students ahead. A couple otters and wolves were chatting away about something — maybe it was about her, maybe not. The topic of Dawn could arise now and again, usually accompanied by the discomforting glances of peers nervous about getting caught gossiping. For these four blocks, though, none of that mattered to Dawn. Out here, she could breathe.

But the air itself changed once she climbed up the slightly-too-tall steps and walked into the school. Immediately, her chest tightened. High-pitched squeals of young mammals rang out in the one long and straight hallway, and she disappeared into the linoleum-lined tunnel, always keeping an eye on the scary janitor's closet at the end of it.

Nervous hooves clutched her favorite notebook as she wandered in between the cliques that naturally formed at the beginning of the day. They were almost predictable: the fourth-graders would take the spot by the water fountain, the second-graders had the area by the shiny new lockers, while the lowly first-graders were relegated to the cold recesses of the study lounge. As a first-grader, Dawn did have the _august privilege_ of entering the study lounge, but she much preferred holing up in a cubby by the staircase and entertaining herself with her notebook.

With her pen in hoof, she would dive into worlds of her own imagining. The tip of her tongue would jut out from between her lips as she scribbled detailed plans of stories with knights and maidens of yesteryear, or of astronauts and planets a galaxy away. She wouldn't show them to anyone — that would be ridiculous — but she let herself fall into the pages, the other kids silently passing her by as she wrote away the fear that clutched her heart.

It never lasted long enough to be wholly satisfying, but her time in the cubby would relax her sufficiently to take on the biggest challenge of the day. Few things frustrated her like the retightening of her chest as she closed up her notebook and made the walk to Miss Melanie's classroom, a drab and unimaginative room devoid of the fun posters and building blocks that had filled her kindergarten teacher's space. Her notebook was not a welcome addition to this environment, a lesson she had learned the hard way.

After losing three notebooks to the grubby paws of her classmates and one to her teacher, Dawn now stowed her adventures in her knapsack, burying the scribbled scenes underneath the dull history textbook she had already memorized. Her hooves now free, she absent-mindedly played with the bow. The silk slid smoothly in her grip. When Mom had been fussing with it earlier, it felt more of a burden for Dawn, an unnecessary adornment to her already voluminous wool. But, as Dawn played with the expertly-sewn edges and clicked the clasp that held it all in place, she let her imagination run with the image of her skipping down the hallway, the beautiful bow set out against her cloudy wool, and the other kids all gawking in envy at this special present.

Rather than every kid noticing her bow, however, her _favorite_ lion caught her toying with Mom's gift the moment Dawn entered the classroom. He could barely contain his enthusiasm as his paw flew up. "Check it out, guys! Smellwether's got a fancy new bow."

Terry had these tiny paws that every day would sneak their way through Dawn's wool and yank on the exact wrong piece, usually in the midst of the daily spelling test. Her short yelp usually got him...and the teacher...to stop. But now that the bow had caught his attention, Dawn had no idea what he wanted. Her hoof started trembling.

Terry slinked around her, pacing with the cruel precision of a thoughtful and practiced bully. "Purple, _eww_! What a gross color. Just like a gross sheep."

Typically, Terry wouldn't talk too much, as wool-yanking rarely needed an announcement. But every once in awhile, he would poke her with a mean comment, an insult meant to send her flying into a rage. And the first dozen or so times, it had worked. Over time, though, Dawn had learned how to avoid egging him on: a smile, small and meek, would disarm him enough to let her escape mostly unscathed.

But her smile didn't work on Terry today. Instead, he continued circling her, his green eyes darting between the classroom door and Dawn's bow. "That bow should go somewhere gross. Like the trash can!"

A couples shouts of _Yeah!_ and _Do it!_ arose from a gathering crowd, broken away from their conversations long enough to witness Dawn's daily affirmation from her good pal Terry. She tried clenching her hooves, but the trembling worsened, which had Terry and a few other students chuckling.

"Aww, look, you're gonna try to fight me? C'mon Smellwether, go ahead and do it."

Terry was not a bright lion…nor was he bright by any mammal's standards. But even he knew that Dawn would not fight back. She would stand there, as she always did, trying to maintain a wavering smile as Terry did whatever he needed to do. And in three fast steps, he was upon her.

With surprising delicateness, Terry plucked the bow from Dawn's wool, the clasp giving way without complaint. He twisted it in his paw for a few moments, and Dawn watched the deep purple devour the light from the fluorescent lamps overhead. The bow exceeded her imagination — it was a lovely shade, just like Mom had said. And it looked beautiful as Terry flicked out one claw, sliced a massive gash through the bow, and tossed it over his shoulder. An expert throw, really, as it clanged against the inner lining of the trash can by the door.

Dawn had heard a lion roar before: her neighbors halfway down the apartment block, when they had been evicted for "forgetting" to pay rent for four months straight. It had been scary, and Dawn had hidden under the covers of her bed for nearly an hour as her neighbors were removed. But Terry's laugh, with a subtle snarl sitting below the guffaws that sounded almost like hiccups, made Dawn shake much more than any roar could ever do.

Like normal, Terry grew bored of laughing — a shiny thing on the wall must have distracted him, though she couldn't be sure as she was squeezing her eyes shut. The silence without his laugh persisted for a few seconds, enough time to coax Dawn's eyes back open, wetter than when they had started. His task for the day complete, he backed off, leaving Dawn clutching her hooves and now staring listlessly toward the trash can. He snickered a few more times and pointed his paw in her general direction once he joined the small conclave of morons he called his friends.

And as per usual, the rest of the class broke away from the show and mingled in their own tight circles, casting the occasional glance toward a heartbroken Dawn. The teacher wouldn't enter the classroom for another sixty seconds — Miss Melanie was dependably punctual — and every student had her schedule down to the second.

As they chattered quietly and ignored her, Dawn stepped quietly toward the door and fished through the trash can. She tossed aside crumpled-up tests with D and C grades, a few rotten apple cores from Jimmy's lunch yesterday (his parents had him on a strictly-fruit diet), and wadded-up tissues and other refuse. Eventually, after she craned down a little deeper, her hoof nabbed the edge of her bow. She readied her shout of joy, but it caught in her throat as she heard her.

"Miss Bellwether, what are you doing in the garbage pail?" Miss Melanie, a badger who sported an especially thin stripe of white along her snout, glared down at Dawn through her wire-rimmed glasses. She was Dawn's least favorite teacher — not that she had many to choose from so far, but still, she believed her feelings were valid. Miss Melanie was not a knowledgeable speaker...in fact, Dawn had corrected a few of Miss Melanie's lesson plans that had glaring holes in the fields of history and science. Those decisions had earned Dawn a few trips to the principal's office. Really, though, she didn't mind, as it gave her a reason to be away from the teacher and everyone else who inhabited this drab classroom, to write in her notebook before the principal sighed and berated her again.

Every day, though, Miss Melanie would find some reason to click her tongue and deliver to Dawn a disdainful remark. The sheep did try to answer Miss Melanie's question, but the tongue click arrived earlier than expected. "You're distracting the other students," she chided with a wave of her paw.

And, like always, the rest of the class had sneaked into their seats, feigning attentiveness while Dawn had her hoof trapped between Jimmy's lunch and Terry's failing grade. The lion hid his smirk behind his history textbook, its spine still unbroken even after half the semester had passed. Dawn began her usual refutation: "But…."

Miss Melanie clicked her tongue again. At this point, Dawn was usually sent to the hallway to do her _special math_ — another great reason to leave this classroom. In her bag and between the multiplication tables rested a worn-out algebra handbook. Dawn had long ago learned her multiplication tables and other assorted elements of first-grade math. In fact, she excelled so much that no one in the school could adequately teach her math. It had been Miss Melanie's idea to recommend the algebra guide and Dawn's special time in the hallway to complete it. Part of Dawn knew that Miss Melanie simply wanted to get rid of a pesky, teacher-correcting sheep for an hour or so.

Today, however, Dawn's teacher had other plans for her _favorite_ pupil. "Perhaps you should be the _first_ to experience Picture Day, Miss Bellwether."

The class _ooo_ 'd and _ahh_ 'd while Dawn fought back the tears that threatened to pour from her eyes. Rivulets had formed after the first few dozen humiliating instances but, over time, she had learned to hold them back with a soft smile that showed the tiniest sliver of her gritted teeth. "Yes, Miss Melanie."

Dawn heard her teacher begin the fifth day of multiplication tables as she shuffled down the hallway. Her feet clopped on the linoleum, and the sound echoed through the ghostly quiet tunnel. She didn't mind having the hallway all to herself, as it allowed her to sob and sniffle without the awkward glances and cruel whispers of her schoolmates.

The remnants of her bow sat in her pocket, and her hoof played with what was left. Terry's claw had cut open the knot, and frayed threads slipped out of her grip. When it hit the trash can, the clasp had bent, and even if Dawn could hide the gash across the front of the bow, it wouldn't stay put in her cloudy wool. Mom must have saved up to get this special bow for Dawn, and now its sheared corpse rested in her pocket.

Her eyes were stained red by the time she reached the photography station. The school had converted the scary janitor's closet into a makeshift booth. The staff had shoved aside buckets, mops, and cleaning solutions, leaving barely enough floor space for the camera, barebones lighting, a rickety-looking stool, and a changeable canvas background. Locked in place was a beige background, likely for testing purposes — Dawn _was_ the first one to experience Picture Day, after all.

Somehow, a giraffe had squeezed himself into the booth. Dawn spotted the "photographer" title on the visitor badge that twirled in front of his chest. He grumbled and extended a hoof. From within her knapsack, Dawn flipped through a few pages and extracted the photo order form. Mom's handwriting, with her special flourishes and the way she added a curlicue to the "D" in Dawn, looked pretty in this ugly space as she handed the page to the photographer's waiting hoof.

"And who do we have here? Let's see…." Dawn stood silently, wiping at her burning eyes, as the giraffe scanned over her picture form. Mom had selected a purple background — _how surprising_ — and the giraffe rolled out the canvas and snapped it into place. "Purple it is, Dawn! Go ahead and sit, please."

The seat for the rickety-looking stool was set far above her head. It would need to be adjustable to fit the many sizes of students at school, but she thought that maybe the giraffe would have started from the lowest setting. She walked once around it, studying the stool for a way to bring it down. She discovered nothing, and so she waited, bouncing anticipatively as the photographer dallied with a loose string hanging from the canvas background.

Without turning from the canvas, the giraffe waved a hoof at her. "Just push the lever, Dawn. Below the seat."

She huffed, then got down on her knees and examined the bottom of the seat. The silvery lever glinted at her. It didn't give after the first three pulls, but with the fourth, she earned an audible click. And the seat came down…on her nose.

She yelped and flew backward. Her hooves grabbed at her nose, pawing at it as the sharp jab quickly transformed into a dull but spreading ache. She rubbed and rubbed, trying to hold back more of her tears…though she had nearly exhausted her supply already.

The giraffe was adjusting his camera and didn't look away as Dawn clutched her nose. "You okay? Hmm, yeah, you're probably okay…so best to get you up on that stool! Gonna have a line of your buddies joining you soon!"

Beneath the hooves that held her nose, she offered a wan smile, one that held back the invectives boiling in her gut. The stool creaked as she hopped on, and she shifted and moved as the photographer instructed. She had to squint to look past the glaring white light of a lamp that had clearly come from the bargain bin. No expense spared for Picture Day, it seemed.

Once he had her set, the giraffe offered a final piece of commentary before activating the camera. "Hmm, y'know, dear, with your wool and this background…a purple bow would look great on you! You should ask your mom to get you one."

The bow's broken clasp pressed into her thigh as she came to rest in her seat. Her reddened eyes burned as she strained to keep them open in the bright light of the cheap lamp. She could already feel her nose warming as the bruise formed. She thought of how this particular picture would look in the new and empty frame in the kitchen.

Everything — all of it — threatened to explode. Her stomach roiled and her head swam in red anger. She wanted to tear out her wool, kick over the camera, shatter the lamps, break down the door, and run. Run, run all the way home, away from Mom, slam the door and hide under her covers, let the shaking pass and the tears flow. It all screamed at her as she sat still in the bright light.

 _Don't forget to smile for the camera, sweetie!_

"Smile, Dawn!"

She had never smiled so brightly in her life.

 _END_

 _Author's Note: Thank you to_ _ **EEsDoNotItNow**_ _and_ _ **winerp**_ _for proofreading!_


	5. Dreams Gone By

By HP Lurvkiff

Shopping used to be so easy; go out, pick up what's needed, go home. Her time working with SWAT, as long ago as that was, felt easier than this. Really, the only change with shopping was one element: children.

She pushed the cart down the aisle, her eyes searching for the brand of spaghetti Matthew preferred. Her youngest litter, all four of them, were bundled snugly into the pockets of the fleece covered vest, reminiscent of her tactical SWAT gear. Instead of zip ties and extra ammo, she had diapers and wipes. Oliver and Olivia, the second litter, sat in the cart, occupying themselves with a rounded, soft plastic toy tractor. They seemed to like taking turns throwing it on the floor for Judy to pick up.

"Mom! Mom! Mommy!" A brown and gray bunny bounced towards Judy holding a vibrant blue box of mac and cheese.

"Can we get this? It's Detective Ace!" And sure enough, the regular cheesy dinosaur was replaced with promotional images of a trenchcoated wolf holding a golden badge in one paw.

"There's a badge, his face, a..." his eyes squinted as he attempted to use his budding phonetic abilities, "crew-is-er?"

"Cruiser," She corrected one of her three eldest children.

A brown rabbit doe with familiar purple eyes grumbled, "Mama, if Neil gets that, why can't I have a candy bar?"

Little Natalie glared at her littermate, who was oblivious to her scorn.

"We're not getting either of those. Neil, honey, put that back, please."

His ears drooped hearing the news but he obediently plodded back to the shelf and put it back. Considering it a victory, Natalie raised her nose in the air with a haughty smirk. It brought back some of the less fond childhood memories of Judy's sisters.

With a frown, she found the familiar red box on the very bottom shelf. Her paw rubbed her rounded belly. A few weeks ago she might have been able to squat down and grab the box with only a few annoying groans, but not with her fourth litter growing ever bigger inside her.

"Natalie, sweetie, could you grab two boxes of spaghetti for mom?"

"If I do, can I have a candy bar?"

Judy's ear twitched. If it was up to Natalie she'd eat chocolate for every meal. None of her relatives were this gung-ho about sweets so she assumed it must be from Matthew's side of the family. But she did have her mother's smarts, which was a blessing and a curse. Nat was already aware that "I'll think about it" means no, and Judy was running out of excuses and was too drained to think of a way to hustle her own daughter. That meant she had to make a deal with her, a five-year-old. Judy Hopps, who hustled criminals, corrupt politicians, and some of the most violent offenders in all of Zootopia was now making deals with a five-year-old. But that was Judy Hopps; with the ring on her finger she has been Judy Lop for the past seven years. Seven years to the day. And Judy Lop made deals with five-year-olds.

"No honey, but we can get something better when we go to pick up the cake."

The little one's demeanor perked when cake was mentioned and hopped off to get the boxes. The third of the first litter's trio clung to the side of the cart, staring off at the midday news playing on the TV above the pig cashier of the little market. Reaching out, she caressed his black tipped ears in the same manner as her mother had done to her. The little gray rabbit turned his emerald eye to her quizzically.

"What was that for?"

She smiled at him, "Because you were in reach, my little Nicky."

But it was because he was the least difficult of her kits. He was her golden child.

With a bashful smile, he turned his attention back to the glowing screen. Judy glanced to see what was holding her son's attention, as he wasn't the biggest TV watcher. There was a serious faced panther and an image of a house next to him on the screen.

"...third destructive break-in this week. The ZPD stated that they are thoroughly investigating all the cases but are tight-lipped on if they are connected to each other. Now to sports with Ted…"

Aside from a round of diaper changes for little Peter, Penelope, Patricia, and Pamela, the rest of the trip through the grocery store passed uneventfully. With the kids packed in the car, she stuffed the trunk with her purchases.

When she was a cop, she thought she had everything she ever wanted. Her mother, along with many other female relatives and friends, warned her that she would want more, that at some point her biological clock would start ringing. She always laughed that off. There was no way that she'd fall prey to such a thing. But she remembered exactly when that alarm went off. She and Nick were on an evening patrol when they found a lone lion cub. They heard his story between bouts of heaving tears. He was lost from running off after a fight with his parents. The reason for the fight was trivial, Judy couldn't even remember. But she remembered how they looked when they brought him home. His mother seemed to have cried as much as he did. This wasn't the first lost child they dealt with, so the happy reunion was expected, but between the joy on the mother's face and the child's outpouring of love, it triggered something deep within her. Something that told her she needed that. Soon after, Nick noticed she had been putting less effort into her work, which admittedly was still above ZPD standards. It was more awkward than she expected telling Nick that she was wanting a family. She felt responsible for getting him into the ZPD and it seemed like a dereliction of duty to leave him so soon into their partnership. On top of that, even before the call to motherhood, she had days where she lamented that Nick was born a fox. But he took her news better than she expected.

"Carrots, you deserve to be happy. If that means having a squadron of kits, then go have a squadron of kits. Just don't give any of them terrible middle names."

It was good advice, even though she was already going to make sure none of her kits had Laverne or Piberius as middle names.

Before she could have kits, she needed a father. As her focus shifted from policing to dating, she willingly took demoted positions to gain a more flexible schedule. After several failed dates found from the many apps that had suddenly infested her phone, she called upon the help of her mother. Bonnie was more than happy to make some calls and find some city dwelling bachelors for her. And the third buck was the charm; Matthew Lop. He was smart, funny, and was even understanding of her time as a police officer. He knew the Hopps family from his line of work, produce distribution. As the head of the Zootopia branch of Tri-Burrows Produce, he could easily support a family.

It was a little over a year before they were married, but it seemed like a whirlwind to Judy. And then two years later, she had her first litter.

Her paw rubbed over her grumbling belly while she waited in line at the bakery surrounded by her kits. It had been seven years since their wedding day, which meant she had been out of the force for at least ten years. Thoughts of where all her co-workers were now floated through her head. Bogo was heading towards the age of retirement, although she wouldn't put it past the buffalo to stay until he was forced to retire. Francine was trying for detective before Judy left. The rabbit snickered at the thought of the elephant in a large trench coat, the unofficial uniform for ZPD's detective division. She wondered who Nick was partnered with after she left. Perhaps he found himself a vixen and had a few kits of his own by now. Or maybe she wasn't the only one who left. Maybe without her, Nick didn't have a reason to stay. Maybe he-

"Next!" The young wolf behind the counter broke Judy out of her stupor.

"I have a pre-paid pick up order; a cake. Under Judy Lop."

The she-wolf looked down at a sheet next to the register, scanning the list.

"Okay, it's ready. Just pick it up at the other end. Anything else, ma'am?"

"A triple chocolate fudge bar!" Natalie squealed, tapping at the dark brown confection in the display case. Her brothers followed suit, picking out their treats which Judy added to the order.

"And I'll have a slice of carrot cake."

"Add on my usual, Trish." A familiar voice piped up behind her as a dark furred paw in a blue sleeved uniform tapped down several bills onto the counter, "Keep the change."

As Judy turned Natalie sucked in a frightened breath before hopping behind her mother and latching almost painfully to her leg. Neil's eyes widened at the sight of the gleaming badge on the mammal behind them.

"Long time no see, Carrots."

There were two well-worn tables and several mismatched chairs at the far side of the room. Nick helped Judy bring their orders to the table.

"Quite a little carrot farm you have there, Fluff."

Judy chuckled as she secured the two O's in the stroller.

"Well, you know us rabbits and carrots: can't have enough of them."

Even after all this time she could still read him, seeing that the smile on his muzzle was genuine. Warmth filled her chest as she looked into his emerald eyes. But as familiar as his eyes were, he had changed over the years. A few more years and he'd be knocking on the door of the big five-oh, and his fur reflected it. She knew Nick was vain, but while some mammals might have dyed their fur, he embraced the signs of aging. Turning signs that would normally bring up thoughts of infirmity became distinguished and wise on the fox, even a bit ruggedly handsome. There were even a few battle scars, a jagged bite out of his right ear was the most noticeable, that added to both a level of intimidation and a deeply hidden appeal that Judy thought she buried ages ago.

"I want to apologize. Matthew's family is very traditional and they were paying for most of it, so it was rabbits only."

"Don't sweat it." There was a subtle shift in his smile she could tell obscured his true feelings. He took a sip from his heavily sugared coffee before continuing.

"Besides, I was in a sting operation that night, so I wouldn't have been able to make it. But it did give me something to hold over Wolford's head for the rest of his life."

The smile shifted again, this time into something more sly.

"You dug up dirt on a fellow officer?"

"Nothing so scandalous, Carrots. I just took a bullet for him is all."

"You what?" She jumped out of her chair, a mix of rage and concern flared up in her eyes. The four little baby bunnies snug in her vest whined in displeasure at the sudden movement.

Nick couldn't help himself from laughing, "Bogo said he was glad you weren't there for that. You would have killed me for getting shot. But I'm fine. My chest was purple for a week and it hurt like a son of a-"

His eyes flickered towards the children that he momentarily forgot were there.

"A lot. It hurt a lot. But I think we're being a little rude here, Carrots."

"Her name isn't Carrots," the little green eyed buck stated.

"The two napping are Oliver and Olivia and I have Penelope, Patricia, Pamela, and Peter here." She motioned to the four bundled bunnies sitting in their pouches.

A short chuckle escaped Nick's mouth.

"That looks like one of our tac vests."

"Honestly, I think it is. It sure cost more than the one I used in SWAT."

The brown and gray bunny leapt up from his seat, "I'm Neil. I wanna be a cop when I grow up."

Nick reeled back in his seat in faux surprise, "One of your kits wants to be a cop? How shocking." He shifted in his seat, reaching into his pocket. Judy saw a lovely twinkle in his eyes as he pulled out a sticker and placed it on the left side of Neil's chest.

"If you're even half as good of a cop as your mother was, you'll be worth more than a squad of seasoned sergeants."

Neil lifted his shirt to stare at the badge.

All the while, Natalie clung harder and harder to her mother. The little kit's frightened eyes were glued to Nick. When Judy pointed her out to the fox she let out a mewling whine.

"Now Natalie, be nice. This is one of your mother's old friends, there's no reason to act this way."

"Pop-pop says foxes are devils in disguise."

"Natalie!" Judy reprimanded, making a mental note to speak to Matthew's father about what kinds of things he says in front of her children.

"She's just a kit, Carrots. She'll eventually learn that the only devilish thing about foxes is their good looks. Just like you did."

"Why are you calling mommy carrots? Her name's Judy." It was the little gray furred buck again.

The two mammals stared at one another. The tyke didn't sound upset, but it was something more than curiosity.

"You're her defender aren't you? Let me tell you, that's a tiring job. Although I'm sure you're having an easier time of it than I did. Just a word of warning though, she can be a bit stubborn."

"Oh, I'm not that bad," she said holding back a laugh.

"Records say otherwise. You still have the fastest knockout in the academy. No one has been able to beat the 'rebounding bunny' technique." Nick turned back to the kit, whose stare had softened, "What's your name?"

"Nicholas Lop."

One eyebrow arched up on the fox as he took a glance at Judy. She felt a rush of heat cross her cheeks almost blurting out that he was named after Matthew's uncle, but she also didn't argue for a different name like she had with the other two.

"Isn't that a coincidence, my name's Nicholas as well." He reached over the table extending his paw, or rather his finger, for the little rabbit, "Welcome to our little club; Nicks, the Judy Defender's Club."

The tyke eyed the elder Nick's finger, taking care not to bring his paw near the fox's claw and instead grasping the paw pad, giving it three little shakes.

After a time of idle chit-chat, her congratulating Nick on his Captain-hood and Nick giving her the quick roundup of ten years of inter-office gossip, their conversation paused. She could see something in his eyes, that there was something he was holding back. Wanting to know what it was, she prompted him.

"What is it?"

He let out a sigh and she felt his paw lay gingerly over hers.

"We miss you, Judy." His thumb pad rubbed over her wrist. A forlorn glint showed in his eyes as he opened his mouth to continue, but it took a moment for the words to choke out."I-I miss you."

The word "miss" came out of his throat but she knew that wasn't the word he meant. In that moment she wanted to do anything to get rid of that sad glimmer in his eyes, but she couldn't. Her ring had suddenly become the densest weight she had ever felt.

"But there is something." He coughed, removing his paw from hers.

"You've seen the stories about the break-ins?" She nodded and he took a sly glance around before leaning closer to her. "We're doing our best to keep it from the media but they are all connected. All the mammals attacked were ex-cops; retired or honorably discharged."

"Any idea who would be doing this?" Nick was already breaking several protocols telling her, so she hoped he'd continue breaking them.

"No idea. But…" He took a wary glance at the kits coloring, "you still have your sidearm?"

Did she? Her mind flipped back in time to the last memory of the little handgun. There were thoughts of taking it out to the range every so often that never happened. Moving in with Matthew was quick and hectic but she was sure she still had it. She gave Nick a quick nod.

"Can you ease an old fox's mind and make sure it's in working order?"

A siren whooped outside, causing Judy to look out the window and see a cruiser pull up.

"That's my ride." He emptied the dregs of his cup as he got up. "It was good to see you again, Carrots. We should bump into each other more often."

"As long as you keep paying for the snacks."

The tempo of his tail swish increased as he laughed. Before he reached the door, his mostly triangular ears popped up.

"Oh! Nick, what's your middle name?"

Setting the red crayon down, he looked up at the fox. "Stewart. Why?"

"Nicholas Stewart Lop," Nick muttered. "You should thank your mother for such fine names."

And with a wink, he was gone.

"He's weird,." Little Nick stated before getting back to his coloring.

Having procured all of what she need for that night's special dinner, Judy and her tiny crew made their way back home. The three eldest fought over the dominion of the TV remote. Natalie won out and began the double feature of princess movies. Now it was just Judy and the kitchen.

Everything was ready by the time Matthew got home.

After hearing the click of the door close, Judy plated his food and brought it to the table.

"Kids, turn off the TV. Dinner's ready."

The kids bounded around their father's feet while he kept his face buried in a newspaper. He sat down with a gruff mumble.

"Everything okay, honey?" inquired Judy.

He grumbled in response, eyes still glued to the paper, "Two trucks and coolers crapped out, in the middle of nowhere. Lost four trailers worth of product."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, dear. But I made your favorite carrot pasta sauce." She knew it was a rather lame placation for his woes but she hoped he'd at least brighten up a little.

Instead, he groaned in disappointment, "Meetings went late so we had a late lunch about two hours ago."

The smile strained on her face, reminding herself that this wasn't anyone's fault.

"Leave any room for cake?"

He groaned again. Strike two. Slipping back into the kitchen she grabbed the anniversary gift she bought weeks ago.

"Maybe this'll lift your spirits, Hon."

She handed him the slender package. Lifting the lid off revealed a set of golden pens engraved with his name, along with a display stand for them.

"They'll look great on my desk. Thanks, babe." He leaned up and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

With his paws free, he plucked his wallet out from his pocket and shuffled through it.

"I wish I had the time to get you something just as fancy, but it's been busy..." he trailed off as found what he was looking for.

It was a gift card to The Velveteen Rabbit, a lapine lingerie store. Undergarments that were usually designed with comfort firmly at the bottom of the priority list. Card in paw, she glanced down at her swollen stomach, doubting they made anything to wear while heavily pregnant.

Dinner went by quietly. Nat and Neil were too enthralled by the delicious dinner to notice anything, but Nick glanced between his parents while slowly eating his dinner.

Afterward, the kits hit a carb coma and were thankfully easy to put to bed. Matthew moved into the living room to watch the news he just read about in the paper while Judy cleared the dinner table. Normally after finishing her domestic duties she'd settle in the living room, but not tonight.

Filled with frustration, she went into their room and ripped open her closet door. Moving several boxes she eventually found the safe. The code to it was burned into her mind; the day she graduated from the academy. Inside was the case that held her sidearm and a small maintenance kit.

She set everything down on the dining room table and began the careful job of dismantling and cleaning her gun. In her prime, she could have done it in less than a minute with a blindfold. But it had felt like ages since she even looked at a real weapon.

The feel of the grip and the smell of the grease dug up forgotten memories. Her unsure movements became more confident as the memories flooded in. There was the time Nick bet her a week of paying for lunches that he could clean the armory faster than her. She beat him horribly only to find out that Bogo ordered him to clean all the guns in the armory and he hustled her into doing the majority of the work. He did pay for the lunches, even going further than that week. Occasionally even buying a few nice dinners for them too.

She missed all that. The adrenaline of a juicy case. The tedium of paperwork. The comradery. The feeling of making a difference in the lives of mammals every day. It was something she'd never give up. At least she thought she wouldn't.

She had her kits now and, even though they could be a real pain at times, she'd never give them up for anything. She couldn't think of a life without them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Matthew's incredulous voice snapped her out of her inner thoughts and back into reality.

"Cleaning my sidearm. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Why?" He was on the verge of shouting. "I thought you got rid of that horrid thing years ago."

As much as she wanted to tell him about the link between the assaults, Nick told her that in confidence.

"I bumped into an old coworker today and... well it just reminded me that I haven't cleaned this in some time."

An exasperated sigh left Matthew's mouth, "Judy, honey, you're a mother now, you shouldn't be messing around with such dangerous things. You shouldn't have even been a cop in the first place."

"What?" Judy shouted.

"C'mon Judy, we all know it. If it wasn't for the Mammal Inclusion Initiative you wouldn't have made it into the ZPD in the first place."

Her mouth hung open readying a massive verbal salvo, but all that came out was a choked squeak.

"But none of that matters anymore, you're a mother now. Tomorrow I can stop at the pawn shop and trade that thing in for something better for you, like some jewelry."

A thundering thump stopped her forming her violent verbal rebuttal. When the kids screamed she instinctively took the full clip on the table and slammed it into the gun.

The kids came screaming out of their room and hid behind their mother.

"Now what the hell has the lot of you all worked up for?"

Their only response was more screaming as the sounds of splintering wood and shattering glass came from their room.

Adrenaline carried all of her police training to the forefront of her mind.

"Matt, get the other kits." Her voice was one of command, pushing aside all the anger that was boiling up from Matthew's words. It was the voice of a cop.

Matthew took off towards the nursery and came bolting back with six kits in his arms.

"Go out the back, head to the neighbor's and call the cops." Matthew paused, his eyes pleading for her to come with them.

"Now!"

A bed smashed through the wall, punctuating Judy's urgent tone. With Matthew and the kits out the back door, she turned back towards the sound of destruction coming from the kid's room.

Whatever was in there had to be strong to toss the bed like that. The noise was similar to when she and Nick chased a rhino on PCP through a housing development.

Her legs shifted, moving her into a better stance to take the recoil and held the gun at the ready. Whoever was doing this was going to be stopped.

The hallway exploded in drywall and wood, exposing the havoc creator.

Judy shrunk back as the thing incomprehensibly growled at her.

What stood before her was no mammal. Before her was a five-foot tall doughnut. Twitching under the glaze were several oversized crickets.

She was dumbstruck as it lumbered towards her, tearing the floor as it moved. Her mind couldn't grasp how a doughnut was a danger. They were supposed to be small, sweet, and easily broken to be dipped into the morning coffee.

When it leaped with a snarl her mind snapped back. But she knew it was too late.

She screamed as the sight of sugar-glazed coated cricket engulfed her into darkness.

# * # * # *

Judy screamed into the darkness, her fur drenched in sweat.

There was movement next to her as a mammal jolted up, two paws making quick defensive strikes in the air.

"I paid my taxes!" it shouted half awake.

There was a click and a lamp lit up. Nick turned to her, cupping the side of her face.

"Calm down," he cooed.

Her paw instinctively gripped Nick's. There was a clink of metal as their two rings met.

"It's okay, Carrots." His free paw began to gently stroke her sagging ears, "Another nightmare?"

She took several deep ragged breaths as her other paw moved down to her round belly.

"I'm not sure if I can do both."

Blinking away the sleep still in his eyes, Nick gave her a groggy and confused look.

"How can I be a good mother if I spend all my time on cases? I mean, we were clocking nearly eighty hours a week on that serial arsonist." She leaned her head into his fuzzy, cream-colored chest.

"But I don't want to lose all that I worked for at the ZPD. Does that make me a terrible mother?"

Nick's paw wrapped around and pulled her into a warm hug.

"No." His voice was deep and soothing, "You're going to be a terrific mother, and you'll still be a fantastic cop."

"But how?" She pulled away and looked into his still waking eyes, "Statistically, I have the same odds of a coin flip of being a stay-at-home mother. And even then, I'll be returning at a deficit. Not only will I have to go through reassessment courses, but..."

Tears began welling in her eyes, but Nick chuckled.

"Statistically, rabbits don't become cops. Statistically, neither do ex-confoxes. Statistically, ex-confoxes don't fall in love with rabbit cops. If anything, Judy, you defy all statistics."

His smooth paw pad caressed her cheek, wiping the tear from her face before pulling her back into his warm embrace.

"Besides, I already talked to Bogo about this and, if it came down to it, I can take the PI exam and get paid as a consultant for the ZPD."

She rocketed out of the embrace and questioned her husband with a look.

"It'd allow me to legally help you out on your cases while staying home and taking care of our kit."

"You'd do that?" She sniffed away a tear.

"In a heartbeat," he murmured before gently kissing her forehead..

Together they fell back onto the bed against one another. His tail came up wrapping around her.

"Either one of us could do that, you know. If I did it, it might actually give you a chance to catch up to my rank."

A wistful sigh escaped the smiling fox's mouth, "I never knew how much I wanted to be a father before you told me about…" His paw gingerly caressed over her stomach.

"Ever since then I… I just want our kits to grow up having something I never got."

She pulled him tighter.

"Besides, Bogo said you were the better cop."

"Like there was any doubt about that?"

They both shared a laugh before letting the silence of the night waft over them.

She felt Nick's arms slacken as his breaths slowed.

"Nick?" she whispered.

A questioning hum came from the dozing fox.

"Can you get your poor, pregnant wife a snack?"

He groaned in protest as he sat up, his tail still clutched by the rabbit.

"Twinkie with pickles again?"

"No, a glazed doughnut."

Nodding, he grabbed a shirt off the floor. He stood feeling a tug on his tail.

"Carrots, I'm going to need that back."

"Fine." Her grip vanished and his tail gave her a tickling caress as it flowed off her. "Just hurry back. I can't sleep without it."

Grabbing the keys off the bedside table, he walked over to Judy's side. Kneeling down, her paw found his as he laid another soft kiss on her head.

"Just some glazed doughnuts? Anything else?"

"With crickets."

His head and left ear cocked to the side in that confused canid manner she found utterly adorable.

"You sure?"

"Our baby wants some crickets. Are you going to deny our precious little bunny-fox?"

His paw released from hers and made its way to her rounded belly.

"Alright, glazed doughnuts with crickets coming right up." Leaning over, he kissed the peak of her belly. "And you, quit giving your mother nightmares."


	6. Atypical Day

By: Kittah4

At a glance, it was tough to place just what kind of mammal she was. A canid, certainly, but what kind?

Her name was Cinderella Reddish. She was told the name meant "little crimson embers", and she supposed this referred to her eyes. Cindy's fur was a rich variety of grays that swept here and there across her coat. She displayed other hints of color as well; black was mixed in with her tail, the front sides of her limbs, and on her ear tips. White was on the underside of her muzzle and on her tail tip. On her neck and upper back were subtle orange arches, and the underside of her limbs contained orange accents as well.

But on her face, there were "embers" in her eyes. They were a yellowish-brown, lively and fiery, and they were bordered by dabs of vivid orange fur. Her brother claimed that the small marks on her eyes made her look like a superhero. Then again, he was obsessed with superheros.

But what kind of mammal was she? Her being thirteen didn't help a casual observer; she was still a growing girl and her size could have reflected a number of mammals. Was she a small wolf? She got that often. Jackal? Coyote? Fox?

Well, yes indeed, the latter was what she was. All one had to do was ask her, and she'd tell you that she was a red fox.

On one particular day, Cindy was walking home with two of her friends. The fox had a spring in her step, as she'd finally secured permission to have her friends come over after school.

"You two are going to _love_ my house," Cindy said proudly as she walked. She was joined by her two best friends: an unremarkable-looking woodchuck male named Rick, and a piebald black and white cow, Ellie. "It's really pretty big!"

"I'm excited!" Ellie exclaimed, and she certainly sounded it. "You're always talking about how much you like your home."

"Yeah, well," Cindy let her eyes move slightly away from Ellie as she responded, "just so you know, my family _is_ a little strange."

"Aren't all families?" Rick shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it's mostly my brother," Cindy rolled her eyes. "You know, little brothers and all..."

"Only child," Rick replied, thrusting a thumb at his chest.

"I've got an older brother," Ellie giggled hesitantly, "like, six _years_ older."

"Well, just don't let the little twerp annoy you," Cindy said sternly, but then lightened up as she approached the steps to her house. "Here we are!"

"Wow, it _is_ pretty big," Ellie said with reverence. Cindy opened the door and let them enter.

"Mom!" Cindy called out as she closed the door. "I'm home!"

"I'm in the kitchen, sweetheart!" The affectionate voice came back. The three young teenagers went into the kitchen where Cindy's mother, Vivian Reddish, was washing dishes. She was clearly a red fox, or just "a fox" as some knew them, as they were the most common type. She was aging well and had pretty cobalt blue eyes. Her face was kind, but reflected surprise when she saw the cow and woodchuck. "O-oh! You brought your friends today!"

"Yes; you said I could!" Cindy replied, her voice immediately getting a little defensive. "I've been talking about this for _weeks_?"

"Oh, of course, of course!" Vivian giggled with a pinch of nervousness. "It's just-"

"It's just what?" Cindy shot back.

"It's _just_ that I had made plans tonight for us all to go see some family friends," Vivian looked embarrassed, "and um, I don't know if there's _room_ for your friends..."

"Well uh, personally," Rick placed his paw on his chest, "my mother gets worried if I'm not home by the evening."

"Yeah, and my parents don't like it when I'm out late, either," Ellie shook her head.

"See? No problem," Cindy added affirmatively.

Vivian laughed gently. "Okay then. You three have fun. Oh, do you want any snacks?" The red fox caught herself, holding an index finger up. "Oh, um, scratch that; I don't have anything here for herbivores... sorry about that!"

"It's okay; I'm not hungry," Ellie said.

"I'm fine," Rick nodded.

"Okay, let's go up to my room," Cindy said, turning on her heel. "It's up the stairs near the living room and on the-"

"Whoa!" Ellie breathed out as soon as she got to the living room. Arranged somewhat haphazardly were several paintings. Some were portraits of mammals and some were landscapes, all painted with a distinctive color style that used contrasting colors to vividly accentuate natural ones. "These paintings are amazing! So pretty!"

"You like it?" Cindy smiled. "That's my dad's stuff."

"Your father painted _all this_?" Rick blinked. "Remarkable..."

"Are there any more paintings in here?" Ellie asked perkily, walking to a door and starting to swing it open.

"Wuh-wait!" Cindy held her paw out, but the door was already flung open.

Inside the room was a modestly-sized painting studio with newspaper on the floor near the easel. Seated at this easel was a fox of mostly gray and jet-black fur. His name was Avery Pawsfeld. His yellow-brown eyes were very nearly the shade of his daughter's, and they showed that he was momentarily startled from the intrusion. He was wearing a loose white undershirt with some paint splotches on it and some cargo shorts.

"Oh, hello!" Avery greeted cheerfully to the three, a brush in one paw. "I take it these are your friends, Cindy?"

"Hi, Daddy," Cindy winced, waving her paw, "sorry about this. My friends don't know to knock before they come into your studio."

Avery smiled. "That's okay, sweetheart."

"Wow, you painted all of these?" Ellie looked around, enthralled.

"Ah, I did indeed," Avery's smile turned bashful.

"Cool!" Ellie raved. "Oh! Cindy, you know how I want to be a celebrity interviewer when I'm an adult?" She smiled brightly and darted her eyes and head toward Avery twice before staring at Cindy meaningfully.

"Uh, right?" Cindy looked confused for a moment before understanding passed onto her face. "Wait, what? You want to interview my _dad_?"

"Just if I get a homework assignment as an excuse!" Ellie whined, placing her hooves together in supplication. "C'mon, please?"

"He's not really a celebrity; he's my dad," Cindy shrugged.

"Wow, ouch Cindy," Rick chuckled into a paw, "he's right there."

"No, she's right, I'm not a celebrity," Avery's smile was gentle. "But! If you need an interviewee, I'd be glad to help."

"See? Okay, now let's leave Daddy alone during his art time, okay?" Cindy started to push Ellie and Rick out of the studio. "Sorry, Daddy!"

"I said it was okay, sugar," Avery chuckled as Cindy closed the door.

"He's so nice!" Ellie tapped her hooves together twice.

Cindy smiled and nodded with a measure of pride. "Now, let's get up to my room. Time's a-wasting! We've got a big Agents of T story to get through in celebration of my two best friends coming over to my house for the very first time!"

"So, what type of fox is your dad?" Ellie asked with interest as the three mammals made their way up the stairs.

"He's a silver fox," Cindy explained.

"Like, an attractive older mammal?" One of Rick's eyebrows piqued.

"He sure is!" Ellie added in jovially.

"No, no!" Cindy waved her hands. "It's a kind of red fox, just with dark fur, okay? That's all it is!" She rolled her eyes toward her door and opened it, flinching at what she saw inside. "Oh for the love of-"

Inside her room, seated at the tea table, was her brother Alex. He definitely looked like his father's son, as he had a great deal of black fur for a fox. He also had vivid orange fur near his ears and on his sides; it was easier to tell he had come from a red fox.

"Alex!" Cindy shouted. She pointed decisively out of her room. "Out!"

"What?" Alex innocently blinked his big blue eyes that matched his mother's in hue. "I wanna play Agents of T with you."

"Not today, Alex!" Cindy frowned. "You and your characters were in the _last_ story!"

"Ugh, fine, jeez," Alex got up and shoved his paws into his pockets.

"You didn't take any of the figures, did you?" Cindy looked at him suspiciously. "No deus ex machina!"

"I don't even know what that means," Alex showed his empty hands. "All your characters and the action figures you've stolen from me are there, fair and square." Alex darted his tongue out at his sister with half-lidded eyes.

"Good, thank you," Cindy said rather insincerely as Alex made his way out.

"That was kinda mean, Cindy," Ellie observed with a cautious look on her face.

"Yeah, didn't he just want to play with us?" Rick scratched his head.

"C'mon, guys," Cindy's brow turned up as she held her hands out to plead for understanding, "HE gets to play with me all the time. I just... I wanted to have my friends over _once_ without everything screwing up. Will you guys please just play Agents of T with me?"

"Sure," Rick said, putting down his backpack and taking a pangolin figure out of it. "Ready to go." Ellie nodded her agreement and reclined at the table.

"Awesome!" Cindy dropped down onto her haunches at the head of the table and clapped her paws together, rubbing them. "Let's begin the story." 

* * *

A couple of hours later, the three mammals began to head downstairs, all with bright expressions on their faces. The sun was bright as well as it filtered in through the windows; the afternoon was getting along.

"Wow, that was so fun!" Ellie said enthusiastically. "I can't believe Mrs. Pangolin was an alien spy that needed fuel distilled from tea to power her spaceship!"

"Yes, that would explain why my _own_ pangolin character was unsuccessful in his attempts to charm her," Rick ran a claw along his lower lip thoughtfully.

"But is she _really_ evil, or is she just trying to get home?" Ellie considered, tilting her head. "Does she value the lives of Earth mammals differently because of where she came from?"

"Good questions," Cindy smiled in satisfaction, "I guess you'll just have to wait for the sequel!"

"I'd love to come back over!" Ellie responded immediately.

"Yeah, I'm down," Rick nodded.

A few seconds later, the front door opened and a female gray fox named Catherine Marengo entered the house. She had warm brown eyes and was just about Cindy's height; a good bit smaller than Vivian or Avery. Her fur had mixes of oranges, grays, blacks, and whites; all typical of a gray fox. The fox took off her coat and hung it up in the closet near the front door.

"Oh, Cindy darling!" Catherine burst out loudly. "You _did_ manage to bring your friends over!"

"Yeah!" Cindy smiled, her tail beating a little in excitement. She indicated her friends with one paw. "This is Ellie and Rick. Guys, this is my mom." Rick and Ellie both blinked and looked at the smaller fox, then back at Cindy. A careful ear might have picked up that Cindy used a slight short "a" sound in the pronunciation of "mom", as opposed to a short "o", but both of her friends seemed confused.

"I thought..." Ellie held up a hoof hesitantly near her chest, "I thought we already met your mom."

"Yeah, we met my mom, we didn't meet my _mom_ ," Cindy said, indicating Catherine with both paws. Rick started to hear the differences in the vowel sounds, but didn't understand the portent. Catherine began to look slightly nervous.

"Umh..." Ellie looked concerned about causing offense. "Cindy, are you adopted?"

"What!? No!" Cindy snapped back.

"Easy, Cindy," Catherine suggested, holding a paw up in caution as she made her way over to her.

"Which is... um, your um... birth mom?" Rick's face scrunched up. "I- I dunno... is that rude?"

"No, it's not r-" Catherine smiled gently at Rick.

"The're _both_ my birth mother!" Cindy balled her fists.

"Cindy, take it easy!" Catherine winced. "It's not that important-"

"Of course it is!" Cindy insisted, turning to Catherine. "You and mom are _both_ my birth mother! That's what you told me, right!? That's how it worked!"

"But it doesn't-" Rick was about to explain his understanding of basic anatomy, but bit his lip to stifle himself.

"Shh, don't get upset, Cindy," Catherine approached her daughter and hugged her. Cindy took in a shuddering gasp, hugging back after a small delay. "Don't get upset." She pat her back, and looked at her daughter's friends. "I'll just give you two the short version, okay? Avery and Vivian are her parents as far as genetics are concerned. But, I carried her, gave birth to her, and nursed her. So in some ways, Vivian and I are both Cindy's mother."

"Whoa, that's _possible_?" Rick looked interested. Cindy looked cautiously at the woodchuck. "Huh... is Alex like that too?"

"No no, Vivian carried Alex," Catherine smiled, letting Cindy go. "So... physically, I'm less of his mother than I am to Cindy, but..."

"But we don't think like that!" Cindy said defiantly, placing her paws on her chest. "Alex and I have three parents!"

"I just have my mother," Rick shrugged. "She worries about me a lot."

"I have a mom and dad," Ellie smiled weakly. "They... don't get along so well."

"Is everything okay in here?" Vivian poked her head in from another room.

"Sure is, Vivian," Catherine smiled.

"Hey um, do you think you could walk me to the subway station, Cindy?" Ellie smiled weakly. "I gotta be getting home."

"Yh-you aren't weirded out or anything by my family, are you?" Cindy asked, suddenly desperate.

"Of course not!" Ellie's smile became more genuine. "I wanna come back. This is a nice place, and I've still got to interview your dad!"

"Pardon me?" Catherine huffed in amusement.

"I should be getting back as well," Rick grumbled, looking at his phone, "Mom's already sent me two texts expressing her concern."

"Can I take them to the subway, moms?" Cindy asked.

"Well..." Vivian's eyes squinted as she mulled this over, "Cathy...?"

"Maybe I should go with you, in case anyone tries to steal any of you cuties," Catherine smirked.

"Thanks, Cathy," Vivian looked relieved, holding up her phone, "I'm still trying to iron out the details with the Wilde-Hopps family tonight."

"Gotcha," Catherine said, opening the front door. "C'mon kiddos, let's get to the subway."

"Who are the 'Wilde-Hopps'?" Cindy looked confused as they made their way down the front steps.

"Family friends; we haven't seen them since you and Alex were very little," Cindy had an easy smile as the three mammals walked along the sidewalk. She leaned in and added, in a loud whisper: "Nick Wilde-Hopps was your mother's ex."

Ellie gasped in delight. "Ooh! Scandalous!" Rick chuckled at the cow's reaction.

"Whaaat?" Cindy squinted her eyes. "Mom had a boyfriend before you two?"

"Mhm," Catherine chuckled as the three headed down the steps to the subway. "But that's a story for another time." 

* * *

The five foxes entered the modest, general-purpose restaurant that catered to those of all dietary needs. Alex blinked as his eyes quickly got used to the low light inside.

"We're meeting who...?" Alex sounded a bit nervous.

"Ah, over there!" Catherine pointed at a table past the female hyena greeter, who nodded at them to let them through. Cindy didn't know what she expected, but an average looking green-eyed red fox along with a gray bunny with purple eyes wasn't exactly it.

"Hey! You all made it!" The bunny waved her paw, and the fox gave a casual salute of a greeting. Judy placed her paws together apologetically and her brow went up. "So sorry we've been out of touch lately...!"

"Oh, no worries at all," Vivian bat her paw dismissively. "I know things must be busy with you two."

"Right, and we can get to that later, but..." Judy's smile became huge and toothy and she squealed. "Wow! _Look_ at you two, you've both grown so much!" Judy approached Cindy and smiled at her. The young teenager was just a hair taller than Judy, and Alex was about half a head shorter. "Alexander and Cinderella... it's been so _long_!"

"Hi, um, I don't remember you?" Cindy winced.

"Of course, you two were just little kits when we first met," Judy giggled. "I'm Judy Wilde-Hopps, ZPD detective!"

"Whoa, cool!" Alex remarked. "A bunny detective?"

"The first one! But don't forget about her husband, Nick Wilde-Hopps," the fox came up with a grin and adjusted his tie, which sat on a very casual Pawaiian shirt. "First detective fox on the force."

"Wow, neat," Cindy blinked twice at hearing this. "I thought police were, um... bigger."

"Most are," Nick chuckled.

Avery counted the places at the table. "Eight? There's five of us, two of you..."

" _Three_ of us," Nick corrected, grinning. "C'mon out, Larry." Nick moved his left shoulder up and down and an eastern gray squirrel appeared from behind Nick's back, perching on his shoulder.

"I wondered if they could smell me," the squirrel grinned. Several of the Reddish family's jaws dropped.

"A squirrel!" Cindy observed. "I mean... obviously, but, uh, y'know..." Cindy giggled.

Catherine squealed loudly and the rest of the mammals flinched or cringed, with Judy covering her ears. "A _squirrel_!? Did you two _adopt_!?"

"We sure did," Nick nodded. "Little Larry here gets most of our free time, and even some time we have to take out on loan."

"Dad..." Larry rolled his cobalt blue eyes. "Hey, can we eat now? I'm hungry."

"Okay, okay," Nick said. "Jeez, we've only just gotten here."

"Can I sit next to Larry!?" Alex asked with a whip of his tail. "Um, Larry, how old are you!?"

"Twelve," Larry replied.

"I'm eleven!" Alex shot back, then looked up at Vivian. "Can I sit next to him?"

"That's up to them, dear," Vivian messed with his head fur with her paw.

"I dunno Lare-bear, that kit looks pretty wild to me," Nick smirked, turning his head in his son's direction.

"I'll sit with him!" Larry said with a nod. Alex pumped both fists, then they all were seated.

The conversations wore on for quite awhile even as they ordered their food. Judy was enthusiastic to catch up with the three foxes, and Nick and Vivian seemed like old friends.

"So Larry," Catherine nodded toward him, "do _you_ want to be in the ZPD when you grow up?"

"Nope," Larry chuckled, "race car driver."

"Oh, I see," Catherine replied, "I suppose the police gene doesn't run in the family."

"Uh, I'm _adopted_?" Larry chuckled with a wry expression.

"Larry, c'mon, you're our son just the same," Nick grinned, then looked at Catherine, "sorry, Cat-"  
"I told you not to call me 'Cat'," she interrupted.  
"I just don't know where he gets that snark from," Nick continued undeterred, "I think it's from his mother."

"Uh huh, _as if_ , buster," Judy turned a curious look up to her husband.

"I see you haven't changed, Nick," Vivian laughed pleasantly, "not that you needed to."

"So how's everyone? Still at the Grand Zootopia Library, Cat?" Nick asked. Catherine glared at him.

"She is," Avery offered, chuckling.

"Might as well get used to whatever 'Nick-name' Nick gives you," Judy smirked. "Once he gets one on you, it's really hard to shake it off."

"Isn't that right, Lare-bear?" Nick pursued.

"Yup," Larry answered simply, popping the "p" at the end.

"It'd be really cool if you were a race car driver," Alex said, grinning down at the squirrel, "I wonder if I could pick up a race car that a squirrel could fit in!" Larry shrugged in reply, but returned Alex's grin.

"And how's Miss Cinderella doing?" Judy smiled at the teenage fox.

"Oh, pretty good," Cindy smiled pleasantly.

"Ah!" Catherine frowned. "You know better than that, Cindy."

"Oh, sorry," Cindy laughed. "Pretty _well_."

"Better," Catherine closed her eyes and nodded, then smiled broadly. "She's into stories, and she tells the most- um, what's the word..."

"Unusual?" Avery scratched his head.  
"Imaginative?" Vivian offered.

" _Esoteric_ stories," Catherine decided, giggling. "She's definitely my daughter."

"That's so sweet!" Judy replied.

"What are you into?" Larry looked up at Alex.

"Superhero stuff!" Alex said excitedly. "Comic books, movies, all of it!"

"Hey, have you seen The Furlanx yet?" Larry wondered.

"Oh no, no!" Alex smiled, his tail wagging. "Is it good? Wait, don't tell me! Spoilers!" Alex covered his ears.

Larry chuckled. "You should see it. I liked it."

The meal dragged on, and it began to reach its conclusion.

"Ah, it's been nice to catch up with the Reddishes again," Nick smiled, patting himself on the stomach.

"What, um..." Cindy began, looking between Nick and Vivian. "What happened between you two?"

"Oh, grown-up stuff," Vivian said dreamily. "A desire for companionship, a fundamental misunderstanding, and an amicable parting."

"Yup, that's about it," Nick nodded, nudging Judy. "Fortunately, I managed to get with the mammal that I'm meant to be with."

"A bunny?" Alex seemed confused.

"Alex..." Avery warned gently.

"I'm just curious!" Alex whined defensively.

"Yup, a bunny," Nick threw his arm around Judy. "I feel like Serendipity herself shoved this little treasure in my direction."

"Mm, you romantic goofball," Judy smiled serenely with her eyes nearly shut.

"Bleah," Catherine rolled her eyes, "The bunny Celestial? Vivian, this 'goofball' may have lasted a little while with _you_ , but he sure wouldn't have with _me_."

"Hence the break-up," Vivian giggled with a nod.

"We should do this again sometime," Judy said, scrambling for the check when it arrived, smirking at Avery, who's paw was almost there. "Ah ah, too slow." She giggled. "No, I got it. I insist."

"By saying we should meet again," Nick pondered, "do you _mean_ that, or do you mean 'we're never actually going to see each other again'?"

"No, we totally should!" Judy claimed, nodding enthusiastically. "We need to take more time out for our friends. Larry's old enough to where he's not such a handful anymore, after all."

"Mom, I'm _right here_ ," Larry chuckled.

"What do you say, Viv?" Nick shrugged. "We still pals?"

"Of course, Nick," Vivian smiled. "And I'm sure the kits would all get along, as well."

"Yeah!" Alex nodded. "Right, Larry?"

"You seem cool," Larry shrugged with a half-smile. Alex looked happy, his tail thrashing.

The two families said their goodbyes. Some of the foxes hugged each other, and the bunny. The kits were fussed over and more promises were made.

On the way out of the restaurant, Cindy found herself thinking about what her friend Ellie had said. It was something about her evil character Mrs. Pangolin, and wondering if she valued the lives of others less just because of where they came from. Cindy thought of the fox, bunny, and squirrel family, and how they were very different than their own family of five foxes with varying coats, but how they were also kind of the same.

Cindy smiled in a sort of satisfaction.

"Had a good day, sweetheart?" Avery smiled down at her.

The fox nodded. She was getting the idea for a redemption arc for Mrs. Pangolin.


	7. We're All Freaks Here

„Hey, freak!" a loud voice called out across the corridor.

Anna closed her eyes and prayed that it wasn't directed at her. Even if it was mere wishful thinking on her part, the girl has always pretended that someone else was called that.

"I'm talking to you, _mix_!"

 _Mix_.

The word she heard very often, usually combined with 'freak' or in case of really nasty bullies, a 'disgusting mutant'. She instinctively cowered her shoulders, gripping tightly the straps of her school bag.

Why won't it end? Why couldn't they leave her alone? Has she ever done anything to be treated this way? And it wasn't just this school. Her family moved three times already and this would make the fourth school for her in just two years. Whatever small number of friends she had were now far away and she could only talk to them through Furbook. At first, she blamed her parents for this situation, as they decided on moving to other towns, but quickly understood that also wasn't easy for them. In every town, it was always the same treatment for the entire family. Disgusted looks, snickering behind their backs or even plain insults thrown right in their faces.

Anna couldn't understand why other mammals had so much hate in them. Why? Was it so much of a deal that her parents were of different species? So what if her mother was a painted dog and father was a grey wolf? Anna knew how much they loved each other and also how much they cared about her. How were they different from any other family? Just because her parents weren't…

"You deaf?" the nasty voice was right behind her and Anna's eyes snapped open.

She swallowed with difficulty and slowly turned around, doing her best to look unaffected by their name-calling. "W-what do you want?"

"Whoa! You look even _nastier_ from the front!" a pig boy chuckled in a horrible way. He was really massive for his species and stood a good head above her. Another pig accompanied him, both dressed in black t-shirts and jeans. Several other kids stopped to watch the scene.

The words stabbed her painfully. She didn't consider herself a beauty of any sorts, but was pleased with her look. She inherited her mother's big, round ears, but her fur was almost all grey, like her father's, with the exception of several, colored spots here and there. Another lycaon's heritage. The tail was like a wolf's though, bushy and long. While her muzzle was in between a wolf and a lycaon, her facial fur seemed to have a problem to decide what color would fit her best. Splotches of black, grey and brown intervened everywhere, making a unique pattern on her face, but at the same time, it was most often targeted by bullies.

With the corners of her eyes getting dangerously wet, Anna spun around and tried to leave, but one of the pigs grabbed her by the bag.

"Hey, I ain't done talking, freak!"

Anna let out a whine and all she could do was to burst in tear-

"Let her go, Swinton!" came a sharp yell and a grey blur swished in the air, landing on the pig's face. Earning a double kick to the cheek, Chuck Swinton staggered to the side, releasing his grip on Anna's school bag. The kicker landed gracefully in front of the mixed species girl and turned out to be a girl too. She twirled around and looked up at the surprised Anna.

"You okay?" the grey furred mammal asked cheerfully, apparently not worried that she just kicked someone square in the face. She was wearing a white 'Mammallica' t-shirt and a pair of black pants.

"I-I'm fine…" the half-wolf half-painted dog girl stammered, surprised by the sudden turn of events. Never before has anyone stood up for her, not to mention a rabbit… or… a _fox_? She eyed carefully her savior and her eyes slowly widened when she realised what she was looking at. The grey girl had long pointed ears, so very similar to a fox, but at the same time her muzzle was very short and didn't have any whiskers. Her tail short, but very fluffy and she stood on slender, but clearly very strong legs. She was also a head taller than a bunny her age should be.

"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself," the girl smiled at her. "I'm Olivia!" she extended her paw in a greeting.

The dumbfounded Anna stared at it, as if she never saw a paw in her life. She had to be dreaming, as nobody in this school ever wanted to be her friend! She was a _freak,_ an outcast! At that very moment, she was hit by a very obvious fact that the girl before her also was a _mixed species_ mammal.

Their strange meeting moment was interrupted when Swinton shook his head and growled at the newcomer. "You!" he took a step forward, his huge frame hovering over Olivia. "I'll make a pelt out of you, girlie!" the other pig was right beside him, smiling in a nasty way.

However, she didn't look frightened in the slightest. Olivia folded her arms and stared back at the pig with narrowed eyes. Then she opened her mouth wide and yelled one word that echoed throughout the corridor. "ZACK!"

Chuck froze in his tracks, surprised by the reaction, but it lasted only a moment and he looked down on the girl. "What? Calling your boyfriend for help, pipsqueak?"

There was a sight rumble when heavy steps could be heard from around the corner and after a moment they stopped just behind the pigs.

"Nope," Olivia showed Swinton a smirk. "My brother."

Two massive paws grabbed Chuck and his buddy by the collars of their t-shirts and lifted them in the air. "You called, sis?" said a deep voice and both pigs looked around to see a truly huge figure. It had a head similar in shape to that of a lioness, but was adorned with numerous black spots and short stripes. The mammal that held them showed a smile full of teeth.

"Yeah, these two jerks were mean to me and my friend," she pointed at Anna over her shoulder. "Oh and one of them said that he'll make a pelt out of me," she added with a mischievous grin.

The expression on the huge feline's face changed instantly. Now it was full of irritation if not bordering anger. "You threatened my little sister?!" he hissed into Swinton's face.

The pig squealed along with his friend. "S-sorry! I-I didn't know she was your sister!"

"Yeah, one could write a book about things you don't know, Swinton," these words came from beside Zack's knee and Anne saw another mixed species mammal, similar in appearance to Olivia, but with red fur and slightly longer muzzle. He was also a bit taller. His choice of attire was an untucked, button up green shirt and plain jeans. Still, his eyes were the most intriguing thing about him. While Olivia had a pair of emerald green orbs, this boy had dual colored eyes – one green and one purple.

He noticed her gaze and pulled off a lazy salute with two fingers. "Sup? I'm Walter, Olivia and Zack's brother," he introduced himself with a smile.

Meanwhile, Zack was giving the pigs a short lecture. "If I ever even hear that you're being impolite to my sis or any of her friends, then we're going to have _another_ chat. Got it?" he growled straight into their faces. Swinton started nodding so eagerly that his head was in danger of falling off.

Once released, both bullies took to their heels and disappeared in one of the corridors.

Olivia shook her head with a huff. "Jerks!"

"Um…" Anna mumbled, not sure what to say to the trio of mammals. "Thank you…"

She felt a friendly arm around her arms. Olivia showed her a brilliant smile. "Don't sweat it! I hate when guys like that bully others! Oh gosh! Sorry, I totally forgot to ask for your name!"

"It's… Anna," the girl muttered, still slightly taken aback with how open these mammals were. "Anna Howlee," she extended a paw and the mixed species girl shook it with a wide smile. "Olivia Wilde! Nice to meet you!" after that she pointed at the two guys. "You've already met my brothers, Zack and Walter.

"Hey!"

"Yo!"

Anna's eyes lingered a bit on the massive mammal. "Brothers? But…"

Zack noticed her gaze and pointed a finger at himself. "Oh! I'm adopted!"

As he said that, the boy by his side let out a dramatic gasp. "No! And all these years I thought that we're blood related!" his face spoke of faked shock.

The taller brother simply laughed.

"Anna? You okay?" Olivia asked her new friend as she noticed her slightly glazed eyes.

"Huh? Sorry, I just… I've never met any other… mixed species mammals…" she muttered, blushing a bit.

The grey furred girl gave her another smile. "Well, welcome to the club of 'freaks'!" just as she said that, Olivia noticed how Anna flinched slightly. And to the wolf-lycaon girl's surprise, she laughed.

"You worry too much, Anna! Don't let them see that they get to you! That's what our dad taught all seven of us."

"S-seven?" the girl stuttered.

Walter joined in with a chuckle. "Yeeah, mom sometimes says that it's the fault of 'that dumb fox', but we all know how she loves dad, him included."

Anna tried to process this new information. "So… so you're all… mixed?" she dared asking.

"Yep," this time Zack decided to speak. "I'm a liger and our parents adopted me when I was already bigger than them. I heard that mom insisted that she'll manage to take care of me. She's one tough bunny!" he smiled fondly.

Olivia nodded. "The rest of us are like me and Walter. I mean, I'm a _funny_ and he's a _box_."

"Hey!" her litter brother protested out loud. "I'm the funny one here!"

"Yeah, dream on!" she stuck out her tongue at him.

Anna let out a small giggle at the siblings' antics.

"Say," Olivia addressed her. "Want to eat lunch with us?"

The wolf-lycaon girl looked at all three smiling faces.

"Sure! I'd love to!"

For the first time in two years, she felt truly happy.


	8. A Beginning of Endings

**By PullTogether**

The young rabbit nervously clutched a well-worn book to her chest, the title _Igraine the Brave Bunny_ visible in large, fancy gold script. She scanned the crowded school gym, looking for an adult mammal that wasn't already surrounded by a sea of other children waiting to speak to them. Nearly all the adults were local prey animals, mostly rabbit farmers, with a few store owners and other professionals that had been invited to Bunnyburrow Elementary for Career Day. The most notable exceptions were an elephant and a tiger, both wearing police uniforms and sitting off to one side. Judy bit her lip and looked over at the officers hesitantly, until her teacher walked up beside her.

The elderly armadillo smiled at the young rabbit encouragingly and said, "What would Igraine do?"

As the bunny approached the officers, she heard the tiger say, "If you'd quit pissing off the Chief, we wouldn't get stuck-"

The elephant cleared her throat and interrupted him. She smiled down at the rabbit and said, "Hello, little bunny. What's your name?"

The rabbit nervously stared up at the elephant for a few moments before she quietly said, "Judy."

The officer asked, "Do you like helping other mammals?" Judy nodded. "Well, that's one of the things I love about this job." The tiger rolled his eyes and went back to reading his newspaper. There was an awkward silence, before the elephant spotted the book Judy was holding. "Oh, I loved Igraine when I was a kid." Judy nervously bit her lip and the officer continued speaking. "Even elephants are afraid sometimes. Doing what's right… what needs to be done, even when you're afraid, is important."

The elephant spoke about being a police officer and Judy listened with rapt attention, until her teacher started to gather the students to leave. The elephant said, "Normally we have badges to hand out…" The officer held up a few stickers, each almost as large as Judy's head. The elephant looked puzzled for a moment, and then turned to rummage through a large duffle bag. She found a polar bear doll dressed as a police officer and removed the hat, which she handed to the small rabbit. "There, this should fit you." The elephant winked at Judy. "You'll just have to earn the badge." Judy clutched the hat to her chest and smiled. The elephant returned her smile and said, "Promise me that no matter what you decide you want to be when you grow up… promise me you'll be brave like Igraine and try your hardest, ok?"

Judy nodded. "I promise."

The small rabbit wailed, "I don't want you and Daddy to die!" Holly wept as Judy sat down next to her on the bed and hugged her tightly.

Nick stood nearby, looking uncomfortable. He started to speak, but Judy glared at him before she said, "Sweetie, we aren't going to die anytime soon."

The fox stepped next to the bed and awkwardly patted Holly on the back. "It's true, kiddo. I didn't mean… well, it won't happen for a long time."

The small rabbit wiped tears from her eyes. She looked at her dad and said, "But you'll both die someday."

Nick and Holly turned to look at Judy as she spoke. "It's true. Death is a part of life. My great aunt Gertie used to always say, 'Everything has an end, otherwise there's no room for new beginnings,' and she was right."

Judy went on to explain that as long as someone remembered you, you're never really gone. Nick smiled when Holly's eyelids drooped lower and lower while Judy droned on and on, until the little bunny was fast asleep. Nick and Judy kissed her goodnight and crept out of her room. They closed the door, and the fox braced himself for the impending conversation.

Judy pulled her ears down in frustration. "Sometimes Nick, I swear you drive me crazy-"

"That's why you married me, right?"

Judy frowned. "Just remember, she hears everything you say." Her ears flew straight up, and she pointed at them. "These things aren't just for looks, you know. Being a good role model is a full-time job." Nick fidgeted and Judy closed her eyes. A few moments later she said in a calmer voice, "At least Holly didn't ask where we go after we die. I don't think I'm ready for that conversation yet." She opened her eyes and looked at Nick. "You know, it's weird that you and I haven't really talked much about that either, even though we've known each other for so long."

Nick shrugged. "Honestly, I want to believe in reincarnation."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, because I don't think one lifetime with you and Little Carrots will be enough."

Judy laughed nervously and walked over to hug Nick. "How can you be such a doofus all the time, and then say things like that?"

"It's a trick, to get more bunny hugs." He returned Judy's hug, and she closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.

Her voice was muffled when she replied, "I'm still mad at you."

Nick gently stroked her ears. "I know." They held each other quietly for a few moments before Nick added, "You wanna tell me what's really bugging you?"

Judy pulled back slightly and gave Nick a sardonic smile. "They should dedicate the new library in Bunnyburrow to someone like you. At least you have a book with your name on it."

"But I'm not half as cute and fluffy as you are, Carrots." He paused. "You know, the library is just a gleam in the mayor's eye right now… I mean, they haven't even broken ground yet, so if you wanted to write a book-"

"What would I possibly write about?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Gee, I dunno. You've had such a boring life." He counted the accomplishments on the digits of his left paw. "First bunny cop, saved Zootopia, married a handsome fox in one of the first pred/prey marriages that you worked hard to legalize-"

"That _we_ worked hard to legalize. You and me together, you dumb fox. Anyway, what do I know about writing?"

Nick laughed. "Seriously? You write in your diary every day!"

"I swear, the next time you call it a diary-"

Judy raised her fist to slug him in the arm, and Nick jumped back. "Hey, role models, remember?"

Fifty-one years later, Holly unfurled a blanket on the grass and gingerly sat down. The elderly doe placed the small carrot-shaped cake next to her, and closed her eyes to bask in the morning sun. Every year for as long as she could remember, Holly celebrated their "Familiversary" (as her dad used to call it) with both her parents, and she didn't see why this year should be any different.

She smiled and cut the cake into five pieces before using a plastic fork to slide one of them onto a paper plate. Holly leaned back against her parent's shared headstone and took a bite. "I can't wait to introduce your first great grandkit to both of you. We just found out he's a boy." Tears glistened in her eyes. "And I can't wait to tell him your stories."

Holly looked up to see her son and his very pregnant wife walking towards her and returned their wave.

Sixty-two years later, a small bunny kit waited excitedly while his dad opened the time capsule in the Bunnyburrow Public Library. Inside, there was a metal badge along with two folded pieces of paper and several other items.

The buck picked up the note and unfolded it. He could barely contain his excitement as he spoke. "Stuart, guess what? It's from your great great grandma Judy." He read the note aloud:

 _Many mammals, both real and imagined, have inspired me._

 _Brave Igraine, who taught me to find courage when I needed it._

 _Dearest Nick, who tore this badge from my chest and ended up writing a book about it._

 _And beautiful Holly, who taught me almost as much about patience as Nick did._

 _Judy Hopps_

His dad pulled another piece of paper from the time capsule and looked at it. "Aww, your great grandma Holly put something in here too." He handed it to Stuart.

The small bunny looked at the crayon drawing of an elephant, two rabbits, and a fox flying in a rocket ship through space. Stuart's eagerness quickly turned to disappointment and he sighed and his ears drooped. "But only little mammals get to fly in space."

His dad nodded sympathetically and ruffled his ears. "You never know though, Squirt. If great great grandma Judy taught us anything-"

Stuart laughed. "I know, we shouldn't give up."

His dad chuckled. "That's right."

Stuart picked up the metal badge. "Why did great great grandma Judy put this in here?"

His dad lifted a stack of worn Moleskine notebooks from the time capsule. "We'll just have to read her journals and find out."

Forty-eight years later, Cadet Elin Wilde shifted slightly while she stood at attention. An older rabbit stood with his back to Elin and looked out the viewport in the wall of his office at the partially completed hull of a massive spaceship. The vixen glanced curiously at a small metal badge and datapad in a tray on the Commander's desk next to a nameplate which read **CDR Stuart Hopps, Z.S.N.** in large gold letters.

Elin had a pretty good idea why she was there, since she'd spent the better part of an hour that morning using a plasma torch to burn her name onto the inside of the aft access panel of one of the brand new landing shuttles. It wasn't as good as actually going, but at least some part of her would leave on the next ship bound for the new colony.

The commander continued to stare out the window while he spoke. "Cadet, why are you always getting into trouble?"

"Sir?"

He turned to glance at her. "You seem to have issues with other mammals, especially rabbits. That's particularly ironic, given who we both are."

"I don't understand-"

The commander shook his head. "Of course you don't." The rabbit sighed and continued. "You were at the top of your class, perfect scores in astronavigation. Hell, given how many hours you spend in the simulator, you probably know more about the capabilities of that ship out there than I do, and that's saying something. You've got so much potential…" The rabbit wistfully looked back at the partially completed ship and shook his head.

Elin was surprised the commander knew she'd been sneaking time on the simulator, but before she could ponder how he'd found out, the rabbit spoke again. "Why are you here?"

"I assumed you called me in for defacing landing craft #3-"

The commander interrupted her. "No, why are you on this station?"

Elin spoke in a crisp monotone voice. "I'm part of the construction team building the first interstellar spacecraft, designation IS-Z01, and training the extra small mammals…"

The vixen trailed off when the commander shook his head and chuckled to himself. He ignored Elin's sullen look and said, "Sounds like something right out of the recruitment manual. So that's it then? You think all of the colonies will be for extra smalls only? What about when the Z01 heads out of spacedock in a few decades? Do the stars belong to the mice too?" The room was silent for a few moments before the commander continued in a quiet voice. "I fought tooth and claw for twenty years to relax the size restrictions on space travel. Two decades ago, the only way you and I would ever see that ship out there is through a telescope." The commander picked up the tray from his desk and held it out to Elin. "I want you to read everything that's on this datapad. Report back here at 18:00 hours tomorrow, and tell me why you're really here. Dismissed."

Later that evening, Elin lay on her bunk and stared at the shiny badge in her paw. _Police Officer, Trust, Integrity, Bravery_. She was surprised by the books, and realized after reading them she might even be related to the commander by marriage, which the vixen thought was odd indeed. But what got Elin really excited were the technical reports that had also been included on the datapad. She carefully considered the implications of the newly developed cryochambers and the next generation space drive, and it hit her like a jolt of electricity: when the Z01 was finally ready for launch, mammal size wouldn't matter anymore.

A voice shouted, "Lights out," and her fellow cadets hurried to climb into their bunks before the room was plunged into darkness. As it grew quiet and the other mammals settled in, the vixen grinned to herself. Elin knew exactly what she would tell the commander tomorrow.

Ninety-four years later, Captain Elin Wilde finished engraving **Judy Hopps** and **Commander Stuart Hopps** next to her name on the inside of the aft access panel of the landing craft. Even though her recent awakening from cryosleep meant the plasma torch was a bit unsteady, Elin was able to put the final touches on the names without too much trouble. She carefully fitted the panel back in place and smiled. Elin wondered how long it would be until someone found the datapad she'd hidden in the box welded to the airframe behind the panel.

The silence of the landing bay was broken by an all-hands announcement whistle from the nearby intercom, followed by the voice of the XO. "All officers to the bridge for final approach briefing."

Elin trailed her paw across the sleek lines of the landing craft. If all went well, in just under 48 hours, she would be riding down with most of the flight crew to be the first mammal to set foot on New Zootopia.

The vixen's hand slipped into the pocket of her flight suit and she touched the small metal badge the commander had given to her so long ago. Before Elin moved to leave, she whispered, "Thank you, Commander. And thank you, Judy."

Two hundred and ten years later, a group of rowdy teenage mammals went on a field trip to the Founders Museum in Capital City, the largest population center on New Zootopia. They were excited to get a day away from school to see the newest exhibit, created from the information on a datapad that had been hidden in one of the original landing craft. They fidgeted quietly at the entrance as the gazelle docent finished explaining how the newly added exhibit was relevant to the recent news announcement from the government. "Since Homeworld hasn't responded to our last two transmissions, the newly established space program is working to repair the starship in orbit and send a few adventurous mammals back to re-establish contact."

An older fox casually leaned against a wall at the back of the room and watched the rambunctious teens. While most of them were barely listening, one rabbit excitedly raised her paw when the gazelle asked a question.

After the gazelle had finished speaking, all the mammals scattered, except the young rabbit who stood and stared in awe at the new exhibit. The fox noticed she was holding a brand new book, _Judy Hopps, First Rabbit Officer_. The image on the cover was the same image used in the exhibit, an old photo of Judy receiving her badge. After a few minutes, the fox stepped up next to the rabbit and said, "Not much for crowds? Me either." She glanced at him and nodded. He pointed at the hologram of the old city of Zootopia in the neighboring exhibit. "Would you want to go back and visit?"

The rabbit bit her lip and shrugged. "I've thought about trying to be an astronaut, but I dunno if I could do it."

The fox pointed at the book she was holding and asked, "What would Judy do?"

The rabbit nervously looked up at the fox and gave him a quizzical look. "Who are you?"

He grinned. "Nobody important, though my sixth great grandmother was captain of the ship that brought us here." He reached into his pocket to pull out a small metal object and hold it up. "I've got something you might recognize." The rabbit gasped; despite being very worn, there was no mistaking the faint outlines of Judy's badge. The fox offered it to the rabbit. "I was going to donate this to the museum, but it really should go back to Homeworld. Think you can take care of that for me?"

The rabbit smiled and nodded vigorously before she took the badge and clutched it to her chest. "I promise."


	9. Street Lights

By SupremeSalt

The juvenile wolf rapped lightly on the faded green door, sending echoes throughout the house he

stood before. He cocked his head after the numerous seconds of silence that followed and began

pondering if he should either send another barrage of knocks or to just ring the doorbell.

The sound of deadbolts unlocking made his ear twitch and shoot up in excitement. The head of a

whitetail doe peered around the slightly open door and soon after looked down towards the small wolf.

"Hi, Miss Herdson, can Janice come out and play?" The wolf asked with an excited face and an equally

excited tail wagging about behind him. The doe gave the child a soft smile before replying.

"Well, I'm sure she's finished with her homework, let me see if her father has any chores lined up for her

before she can come out." The doe left the door open for just a crack and began discussing the matter

with her husband. Leaving the wolf standing outside in the nice spring afternoon rocking back and forth

on his heels and looking around the yard.

The property was the average suburban one story home. It's brick exterior had subtle chips and cracks

laced along it that wouldn't be noticed until you were closely looking, as the wolf was doing whilst

awkwardly standing in front of the door. The yard had a small garden in which grew an assortment of

flowers that was planted in what seemed to be every neighbor's garden due to the fact that those were

the only plants available at the nearest hardware store. The grass was well kept, but not without its

flaws. A patch of weeds shot up here and there in the plot of dark green grass, the side walk leading up

the house could have used some edgework in order to clear the weeds growing in between the cracks of

the sidewalk, but all things considered the home looked to be a lovely place to call home.

The wolf's ears twitched as they picked up the faint conversation of the two adults in the living room.

"I don't like Janice going out and playing with that wolf. You know as well as I do, Stephany, that wolves

are nothing but troublemakers and backstabbers!"

"He's just a boy Harold! He's a very sweet, young boy who happens to be one of Janice's two friends.

We shouldn't be keeping her shut in from the rest of the world or she won't know how to live without

us!"

"I just don't like the fact that-"

"Did you forget that Jordan also stood up for Janice when she was being bullied during school last week?

How he stood up for her, a prey, against the rest of their class which, keep in mind, is primarily

predator?"

Jordan lowered his head and held his arm with the other, he felt guilty for having caused an argument

between two adults all because he wanted to play with his friend. The young wolf looked behind him

and began contemplating just leaving and trying again another day, when suddenly he heard footsteps

approaching from the other side of the door.

Mrs. Herdson opened the door with a faint smile before saying, "Janice will be down in a moment,

thanks for waiting sweetie."

Jordan got excited once again and beamed up towards her, "Ok, Miss Herdson. Thanks!"

Just then a small deer came up to the door having just barely slipped an arm into a flannel shirt destined

to go over her t-shirt she already wore. She smiled widely as she saw her friend waiting and she rushed

out the door and the two children began to run towards the street.

"Just be sure to be home when the street lamps turn on!" Ms. Herdson called towards her daughter.

Janice gave a quick wave and a quicker response, "Alright, Mom! See you when it's dinner time!" And

with that the two children ran around the corner laughing and poking at each other.

"So, what do you wanna do today?" Janice asked as she trailed behind her canid friend. Jordan paused

as he hadn't even thought of what they would do on this day.

Jordan turned around and tapped at his chin. "Well, we could go to the park and play on the playground

there?" Janice nodded in agreement and slipped around him on the sidewalk and led the way.

Jordan was as innocent as they came, for his age at least. Being only 12 years old meant that he was still

as naïve or innocent as the next kid, but also not oblivious of his surroundings or the things that

happened in the city. In particular, his area of the Meadowlands. Jordan lived in a small two-bedroom

apartment and lived there with his mother and four siblings, all of which were older than he was. Not

having a father figure meant he looked to his older brothers as role models, but that never worked for

the best as they frequently snuck out during the night to do things that was for "big boys" and wasn't

any of his "bee's wax". All he knew was that his older brothers were almost always up to no good and

his expected him to be just like them. Besides that, all Jordan wanted to do was to draw or paint finger

paintings about dreams he had during his sleep, his aspirations, his life but being from the family he was

from, it was almost never meant to be.

In contrast to Jordan however, Janice grew up in the nicer part of the Meadowlands district. Being an

only child living with two parents that are happily married (or so it seemed) was everything that Jordan

could dream for. She spent her free time painting pictures as her parents insisted that she picks up a

hobby that could "take her somewhere in the future". She didn't mind painting for fun or outside of art

class, but it bothered her when her parents pushed her to paint with a serious attitude and often to

paint things she didn't want to paint. While she wanted to paint pictures of giant lizards destroying cities

and fighting other giant monsters, her parents wanted her to pain nature shots and other boring things.

They would sit her in front of the TV with her easel, canvas, paint, and brushes and put on re-runs of

"The Wonders of Art, with Bobcat Frost" and have her follow along as he painted for his show. She

longed for adventures, travel to distant lands (or as far as their imagination took them), and maybe get

into some trouble here and there.

The two children were exactly what they both needed in life: An outlet for exciting adventures and a

safe, quiet shelter for creative activities.

Jordan studied his friend ahead of him and thought to himself why he felt things he couldn't explain.

Whenever they accidentally touched he felt like 10,000 volts of electricity shot through his body. His

chest squeezed and tightened around his heart whenever their eyes met and locked even for just a

fraction of a second. He opened his mouth to try and explain himself to her, because she was always

telling him how girls knew more than boys. So maybe she had all the answers he wanted.

Janice was having no better luck trying to silence her mind as she argued with herself about whether she

should try and tell him that since the 4 th grade she had a huge crush on him. One that wasn't always a

big secret but according to her best friend: "Boys are just so dumb, if you told him you liked him he still

wouldn't know." Janice had hoped that she would be able to at least still be friends with Jordan, even if

he didn't like her back. She frowned as the idea of her losing one of her only friends, all because of a

stupid crush. She shook the foul idea from her mind before it really got to her and just like that the two

children stood at the park's playground.

Janice blinked in amazement how she lost track of where they were and how quickly the two walked

down the block while she was lost in thought. Jordan stood next to her and the two watched all the

other children play and run around.

"So…. What did you wanna do? Did you want to play tag? Maybe hide-and- seek!" Jordan began getting

more and more excited as he began listing off games they could play.

While Janice wasn't opposed to playing those games, she understood that Jordan had an unfair

advantage due to his heightened sense of smell, she slightly shook her head and stared at the ground as

she thought of something they could both equally do together and still have fun.

A suddenly, a lightbulb switched on in her brain.

"Let's play house." She said, eyes gleaming with joy.

Jordan cocked his head slightly and his tail stopped wagging about.

"Like… what do you… mean?" Jordan knew exactly what she meant.

"Well, we can pretend like we're married and we could pretend like we're grownups. Doing grown up

things."

"What do grownups do though?"

Janice paused at this, despite living with both parents she didn't really know what adults did during the

day or what having a job was like.

"Let's just make it up as we go?" She asked while shrugging.

"Yeah, ok… Yeah, let's play house, it'll be fun I bet." Jordan said with a smile, but Janice didn't miss how

Jordan sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it would be fun.

"Ok, so since I'm the mom that means I do things like cook and clean. Cause that's what my mom

normally does." Janice said whilst pretending to tie on an apron.

"Hey wait. If you're a mom then shouldn't that mean we're supposed to have kids?" Jordan asked

curiously.

"Yeah, so?"

"We don't have any kids is the problem."

The two stared at each other as the current problem dawned on them.

Janice awkwardly looked away, before looking back up. "Well, our kids are at school. How about that?"

Jordan nodded at the thought of that. "yeah ok, guess that makes sense."

The two continued playing and such. Debating on what they think their parents are normally doing

during the day. They had decided that Jordan was to own a company that sold popcorn to people

whenever they wanted a bag of popcorn with the reasoning of "Well, popcorn is yummy…. So who

wouldn't buy it whenever they want?" and that Janice was the mother to their 7 children.

The number of children seemed a little high but their imagination of ideal wolf pups and fawns kept

popping into their minds so they couldn't just stop at one each.

As the two sat under the jungle gym eating their "dinner" another group of children approached.

"Well, well. If it isn't the runt and his stupid little prey friend." A rough sounding voice said.

The young wolf and the deer were startled at the sudden voice and intrusion of their make-believe land.

Jordan turned around and found himself looking at Tyson Stripeson, a Bengal tiger just a year older than

he was, and his rabble.

"Go away Tyson, we already have enough dealing with you at school." Jordan growled, his smile he had

on the moment before melting into a deep frown.

"Why don't you make me, huh?" The adolescent tiger responded. "Or are you too scared to?"

Jordan stood up and looked up at the tiger. Despite being only a year older, Tyson had about a full head

of height already on Jordan's mediocre height.

"I said back off!" Jordan yelled before shoving Tyson, who barely moved back a half step.

Tyson growled and shoved Jordan down to the ground, causing Janice to yelp in fear. Jordan looked up

at his friend, noticing how scared she really looked and how she was shaking in fear for her friend.

All the kids in the Meadowlands knew that Tyson was a bully and that the teachers wouldn't want to

intervene due to how his father was a member of the school board. Which meant Tyson had free reign

to do whatever he wanted during school.

Jordan stood and brushed the woodchips off of his clothes. When two of Tyson's friends grabbed him by

the arms and held him a bit off the ground.

Jordan began kicking his feet wildly in every direction he could in an attempt to free himself, but to no

avail. Tyson looked down at the trembling deer and grinned as he kicked dirt and woodchips onto her.

She began crying immediately as dirt was kicked up into her eyes and at the same time, something in

Jordan's mind snapped.

Jordan instantly bit down onto one of the two paws that held him up and was dropped immediately

from the combination of pain of the victim and shock of other teen after watching his friend's hand get

bit. Tyson whirled around to bring his attention to the commotion behind him and was met with a punch

to his jaw.

Despite giving it all he could, Jordan's punch didn't do as much damage as he would have liked and in

turn the three older teens began to beat Jordan down to the ground. Jordan instinctively curled up into

a ball to protect his face from the oncoming assault of punches and kicks. Janice now having rubbed the

rest of the dirt out of her eyes saw what was going on and grabbed as much dirt as she could in her

small hooves and shoved it into Tyson's face.

Her desired effect of getting Tyson to stop hitting Jordan was achieved, but now she faced the problem

of becoming the target herself.

Jordan peeked up from his fetal position form and saw that Tyson was approaching Janice in a not-so-

friendly manner and he shot up off the ground and onto his feet. Yelling and growling as he charged

Tyson and thrust his shoulders into the unsuspecting tiger's back, knocking them both down.

If Jordan wasn't angry about Tyson ruining his day with Janice, he was more than what most would call

"angry" now. Jordan began pummeling and slashing at the tiger's face with fist and claws, while Janice

crawled backwards to remove herself from the fray. Tyson's two friends grabbed Jordan and threw him

back onto the ground and as Jordan attempted to get back up, Tyson ended his efforts with a kick to the

ribs.

Jordan found himself, once again, rolling himself into a ball while feeling the pain of every kick, every

punch, and hearing the distant and now fading screams and cries from Janice in the background. He had

all but given up hope when he heard a very loud, very startling, blair of a horn.

"Crap, it's the cops! Let's go man!" Yelled out one of Tyson's friends and soon the pain of the beating

stopped as the teens tried to escape.

While the arrival of police officers was a common reason why fights were broken up it almost never

resulted in much other than sending a large group of on-lookers and participants alike scattering and

running. Jordan was expecting to have to deal with Tyson and his goons again the next day of school,

when a blur of gray shot past him and grabbed hold of the fleeing tiger.

A rabbit police officer had gotten hold of Tyson and began handcuffing him and telling him that he

would be taken home and would have to explain all of this to his parents.

A small smile formed on Jordan's busted, bleeding lips as he finally got to see Tyson get what was

coming to him when a voice from behind him startled him.

"So, you're the hero for our small deer friend are ya?" Jordan turned to find the voice and came face to

face with a red fox officer who seaming just appeared out of nowhere as Jordan didn't hear him

approach him.

Jordan stood in a stunned silence and looked over to Janice who had a glimmer in her eyes. Soon after

she turned to face the rabbit officer that approached her. Whether it was from crying or some other

reason, Jordan didn't know why her eyes shined the way they did, but he returned his attention back

onto the red fox in front of him.

He nodded and the fox smiled, pulling a sticker out from his shirt pocket, placing it on Jordan's wrinkled

and dirty shirt. Jordan looked down and saw a bright yellow diamond with a big red "S" in the middle of

it.

"Every hero has to have a symbol to stand behind, wouldn't you agree? SuperWolf?" the fox grinned

and motioned for Jordan to come closer, "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say your friend over

there has a crush on you. And maybe you have one on her too."

The sudden hushed suggestion sent a wave of heat into Jordan's face and caused his ears to blush a

shade of red probably darker than the fox before him. The fox laughed before nudging the young wolf.

The officer tousled the fur on Jordan's head with a smile before standing back up and walking away.

Looking over his shoulder as he continued to walk, the fox called out, "If you ever need anything, look

me up and I'll be glad to help. Officer Wilde, by the way if you didn't catch it earlier."

Janice walked up to Jordan and for the first time they noticed how dark it was outside and how the

street lamps were already turned on.

"OH! Our parents are gonna kill us!" they both yelled.

Jordan stopped just short of Janice's front steps and found interest in the ground to try when both of

Janice's parents met them at the front of the house. Both worried sick, understandably.

With a quick explanation from Janice as to why they were late, followed by a quick look at Jordan, both

parents' worry and anger turned into gratitude and joy.

Janice's mother told Jordan to stay put while she runs inside to grab her first aid kit and get him cleaned

up, while her father approached him and knelt before him.

Jordan flinched at the sudden move as he was always intimidated by the buck that normally towered

over him, with antlers large and that had many points. His worry and nervousness melted away when

Mr. Herdson placed his hoof onto his shoulders.

"You did a great thing here today Jordan. And you didn't have to put yourself in harm's way at all."

"But…she's my friend." Jordan replied, "wouldn't you do that for your friend?"

The buck chuckled and sighed.

"You really are your father's son."

The buck stood and began walking back to the house.

The sudden realization of what was just said dawned on Jordan.

"WAIT! You knew my dad?"

The buck turned a looked down at the juvenile wolf with a set of sad eyes, "That's a story for another

time. When you're older." And with that Mr. Herdson walked back into his home and his wife appeared

soon after.

After a short while, Mrs. Herdson had gotten all the scratched and cuts on Jordan's face cleaned up and

put antibacterial cream on whatever bled. She gave Jordan a soft smile before walking back into her

home, leaving the door open just a hair for Janice to follow.

Soon it was just the two children, standing in front of each other. Not a single sound came from either.

"I guess- "

"I'm sorry for- " They both began at the same time.

"You go first." Jordan said.

Janice smiled and said with a shaky voice, "I'm sorry for what happened today, Tyson's just big jerk."

"It's nothing you have to apologize for." Jordan responded sincerely.

"You know, the rabbit lady officer talked to me while you were talking to the fox officer."

"What did she tell you?" Jordan asked, cocking his head.

"She told me I should be glad I have a boyfriend like you that's also a hero."

Jordan's eyes became wide and he began to breathe quickly.

"B-b- but we. We aren't- I'm not... you aren't…" Jordan began stammered and soon just ended his

attempted sentence with a whimper.

Janice giggled and threw her arms around Jordan.

"I know, but you're still my hero." She said with her face buried in his shoulder.

Jordan returned the hug and the two took a half step back from each other soon after.

"Well, I guess I should get going home huh?" Jordan suggested.

Janice nodded and the two began walking away. Suddenly Janice stopped and turned around.

"Hey! Jordan… wait…" She called as she hurried over to him.

One of Jordan's ears rose as he tilted his head in curiosity.

"Yeah?" He simply asked. What followed next surprised them both.

Janice threw her arms around Jordan again and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I know you aren't my boyfriend, well not yet at least, but you're still my hero."

The two kids looked into each other's eyes for a moment, both blushing and hearts racing a million miles

per hour. Janice turned and waved her good-bye as she closed the door behind her.

Jordan began walking off the front steps of her house before suddenly stopping. He turned and yelled,

"WAIT! What do you mean by 'not yet'!?"


	10. Brave, Loyal, Helpful, and Trustworthy

By: TheRealFanboy

"Carrots, I'm fine."

"Nick, I've seen your face. You're not."

"Come on, I'm not thrilled about this. But this is part of my duty. You, of all mammals, should understand that."

"Why didn't you at least tell him about what happened?"

"You honestly think the Chief would care? You heard him. Obviously I'm the best suited for this job. It's simply my turn for those traffic lessons this time, and that's it. Besides, it's just a bunch of children."

"Which might not be different than before. What if you face their rejection all over again? I would hate for you to get hurt because of their pettiness."

"Yeah, but now I'm all grown up and I'm perfectly sure I can handle it."

With these words, Nick opened the squad car's door. One foot already on the pavement, he felt Judy's eyes on his neck. He sighed, "Carrots, please don't make this harder for me than it already is."

"Nick, I-" she started, but the look he gave her made her fall silent.

In a swift motion, he turned around and hugged her, burying his muzzle into her neck, her sweet scent calming his nerves. "You did so much for me already. Please, just let me do this for myself."

When he pulled away, she closed her eyes. Then the warm smile that always managed to soothe Nick lit up her face. "All right, Nick. I'll pick you up later."

He gave her a quick kiss and finally got out of the car. He was once again grateful, as he stepped onto the pavement, for wearing the ZPD uniform. This way, at least, he could convince himself the looks he got were due to mammals not being used to officers showing this type of affection for one another. As the car's engine started up behind him, he took a deep breath. The familiar smell of sun-heated asphalt kept his mind on the present task at hand.

A few determined steps later, he reached his destination. The Junior Rangers' headquarters of Savannah Central. It was only a few steps up to the door. As his paw grasped the handle, he could already feel his heart racing. Then, he was inside.

The wooden floor creaked under his step. There was the smell of some recently brewed coffee somewhere close by. The walls were hung with frames, depicting various uniformed mammals, as well as citations to the Rangers' core principles. To his left, stairs led to the upper floor. To his right stood a wooden bench next to a door. A wildebeest boy peeked his head through it.

"Welcome to the Ranger Scouts, sir. Are you Officer Wilde?"

Nick nodded. "The very same."

"Come in, then," a grown-up voice said from inside the room.

Nick halted in mid-stride for a split-second. His neck hairs stood on edge. There was something familiar to the voice. Something alarming. He seemed to faintly remember the owner of it. He wasn't so sure, yet he couldn't deny it either.

As the boy held the door open for him, Nick collected himself and entered. So this was the place to find coffee in this house, Nick mused. A quick glance around made him wonder whether he was in an office or a living room. The sofa and recliners in one corner sure looked cozy. Yet they wouldn't fit in with the folder-stuffed shelves and the filing cabinets surrounding all of this. Those, however, went along just fine with the two cluttered desks in the middle. Yet what struck Nick most, beyond any unmatched furniture, was who sat at one of those desks. When Nick saw him, he knew immediately why that voice was so familiar. Nick would never forget the face of any of his childhood tormentors. His first instinct was to just turn around and walk out. Yeah. Definitely. Just walk out. Not run away this time. Unlike the last time.

He mentally shook his head as he stifled a growl. He respected the uniform he wore too much to even consider the option. He did not want to even imagine Judy's disappointment if he did.

The Zebra sitting at the desk rose. "So it really is you, Nick. I saw the photos. Read the article. But it's only now that I believe it."

Nick clenched his paws. The boy still standing behind him was the only reason he remotely kept his calm. Through gritted teeth, he growled, "Zach. It's been a while."

"Quite. Too long, I'd say. Jeremy, please let the others know we'll start as planned, then get to the preparations."

The last words were directed at the boy. He nodded and left the room.

In silence, Nick complimented himself for holding back until the door had closed. "What is this? What preparations did you have in mind this time?"

"Please, calm down," Zach said. He stepped around his desk. "These kids are not part of what happened between us. To them, this is a regular visit of a regular officer, giving a regular lesson on traffic safety."

Nick was ready to snap back at him, but something about the Zebra in front of him held him back. The second the door had closed there had been the slightest shift in his demeanor. Like he had just deflated a bit. Even more, the look in his eyes had lost the detached professionalism. Was it really a hint of sadness in its stead now?

"But you have no idea how grateful I am for this chance today."

These words made Nick's blood boil up again. "How dare you," he growled. "You have no idea what you and the others did to me. What I went through because of your bullying. And now you're talking about chances to do what? Repeat the past?"

"Yes, I am," the Zebra said, stopping halfway over to Nick. "I know you have all the right in the world to hate me. I would completely understand if you don't accept it. But I am still glad to finally be getting to..."

His voice had gotten more and more shaky before finally trailing off. Nick watched in disbelief how the now grown up bully from then was taking heavy breaths to collect himself. Was this really going to happen?

"To apologize," he finally concluded in a hoarse croak. "Nick, I am so sorry for what we did. What I did."

Nick felt the blood rushing to his head. "That comes a bit late, don't you think? More than 20 years too late."

Zach lowered his head. "Yeah, I wish I'd seen it sooner. It took me a long time…way too long to understand. But when I did, you were gone. Moved and nobody knew where. They didn't even care..."

"Nobody ever cared," Nick scoffed.

"I did. Please, believe me, I still do."

"Don't give me that, Zach. It was over half a year before we moved away."

"I know," Zach said and swallowed hard. "I know."

Nick stared at the adult Zebra, feeling like he was towering above him. Seeing this grown mammal emotionally cowering before him soothed his fury. He ran a paw across his face and closed his eyes. He had no idea what to make of this. "Maybe we should sit down? I know I need to."

With a weak smile, Zach nodded and offered him a seat on the sofa. Without asking, he poured them both some coffee. After settling down, he said, "Nick, I truly want you to know that I'm not the same guy anymore that I was back then."

Nick shook his head. "Neither am I."

"I also know there is no excuse for what happened. Horrible only begins to describe what we did. And what makes it so much worse is that the others never seemed to mind. When you didn't come back-"

"What?" Nick complained bitterly while he dumped sugar into his cup, staring dumbfounded at the Zebra. "You honestly believed that I would come back after that?"

"I know that sounds stupid," Zach admitted. He reached for the cream. "Now, looking back...anyway, I began questioning what I had done when days and weeks passed. Not just myself but also the others. They were so pleased with themselves that I honestly managed to convince myself that I was the one who was wrong. Until they finally threw out Chuck."

"Because of what happened?" Nick didn't even try to hide his satisfaction.

Zach smiled at Nick's tone. "Well, I don't really know. He did quite a lot of stuff here. I don't know if he took it so far that they had no choice but to take action, or if his dad caught on. Since his father was donating a lot of money to the Junior Rangers, they were giving Chuck a lot of leeway on his actions."

With that, Nick's short burst of joy was gone. "His dad bought the committee?"

"Oh, no. As it turned out, he wanted to support his old troop and, more importantly, for his son to learn the same skills and values here. It was those in charge who were too afraid to offend him. Yet when he found out, he sent Chuck to military school and increased his donations as an apology."

Nick's brows furrowed even further. "You mean, as a silencer."

Zach's shoulders slumped. He took a deep sip of coffee. "Maybe. I have to admit, I can't say for sure. Either way, soon after Chuck was gone, his best friend left, too. The other two carried on like nothing happened. But I didn't. Without them to silence my doubts I finally admitted to myself what kind of mammals I had hung out with. Well...I started to see the error of my ways."

Nick couldn't help but grin. "This feels like it's turning into a trend. Mammals admitting to me they were wrong. Can't say I mind it. Did you set this up, today? Me being here?"

The Zebra laughed. "I don't really have the power to do that. No, this is a scheduled lesson and I have no idea how the officer gets assigned. All I did was volunteer to supervise when I saw your name."

"And thereby decided to give me the surprise of my life. What's with the other two of your group who didn't quit? Are they around here today?"

"Oh, no, don't worry. They're not. They didn't quit right away, but left after all when they got older."

Nick shrugged. "Hmm…too bad."

Zach stopped, the cup lingering in front of his open mouth. Then he put it down and stared at Nick. "Why?"

"I admit, seeing you wasn't too thrilling." Nick said as he drank some of the coffee. He paused for a moment and decided it needed more sugar. "But now, after listening to you, I'm kind of interested if they changed their minds by now."

The Zebra smiled. "You said this was turning into a trend for you?"

"Yeah, there's been a lot going on in my life the past year. It wasn't only with me joining the cops. My girlfriend started this trend. Then I met her family, and had a similar experience. Now I'm seeing it isn't just her family."

"Your girlfriend is..." Zach started, then paused and thought for a moment. "She's not a vixen, is she?"

Nick laughed. "I'm afraid there is no correct way for me to answer that.'

"Come on, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, of course. She's a bunny. Have you ever, by chance, heard of Judy Hopps?"

"Judy Hopps?"

Nick couldn't help but grin. "Yep."

"You honestly mean the Judy Hopps?"

"The one and only."

Nick nodded, doing his best to subdue the spark of pride flaring in his chest. Distracting himself with another sip of coffee, he paid no attention to Zach's changing expression.

"That bunny officer who held that horrible speech about predators being predisposed to violence?"

Nick coughed, hastily setting down his cup. "No, no. The Judy Hopps who dismissed these beliefs and apologized to me. The Judy Hopps who showed me that you can be who you want to be if you believe in yourself. You're not the only one who can change, Zach."

"Of course not," Zach apologized as he handed Nick a napkin. "That's not what I wanted to say. Or, well, maybe it was. I'm honestly not sure. It's just that...maybe I saw too much of myself in that speech."

"Could be." Nick scratched the back of his head and sighed. "I know I did."

Zach lowered his head. "So, does it still haunt you?"

"Of course it is. It's always been there. I found friends who helped me cope with it. I learned to live with it. At times, I'm even able to ignore it. But I'll never get over it."

Zach shook his head. "I can only ask for your forgiveness again. I'm all the more glad you're able to sit here and talk with me."

"You know, that's also due to Judy. Maybe you should be thanking her rather than me. The advice I got previous to hers was, well, a whole lot different."

"Maybe I shouldn't ask, but what was it?"

"Let's say with the training I've had, be glad I didn't listen to that friend of mine."

Zach smiled. "That drastic, huh?"

Nick knew that kind of smile all too well. The hidden sadness in the Zebra's eyes. That was a smile he'd worn himself countless times. "If you really want to know. When I told him what had happened, on my next birthday after that, well...he gave me a pair of brass knuckles. And invited me to go look for the five of you."

Zach looked back up. "But you didn't?"

"Do I hear disappointment?" Nick chuckled as he raised his eyebrows.

"No, but... I couldn't blame you if you'd done it."

"I hope that is not what you teach these kids here?"

A tinge of crimson flashed onto the Zebra's face. "Of course not. It's just that...well, like I said, I couldn't honestly blame you. Though I'm glad you decided against it."

"It's more like I never even considered it. I'm not even sure if my friend was serious after all. I know he would have gone through with it if I had said yes. But when I told him that it wouldn't help me, he just laughed and said that's why I'm his best friend. But, I can't get over what you said. You wouldn't have minded if I'd beaten you up?"

"Of course I would have minded. But I still feel I would have deserved it."

Nick blinked. "Are you serious? I'd never thought this would weigh on you so much."

"Yeah, I know." Zach ran a hoof through his mane, "You're the one who got hurt in all of this."

"Right, but that's not what I meant. It's just that in my mind, all of you got past this. Moved on, maybe celebrated what you did. I never even dreamed that just one of you regretted any of that."

Zach closed his eyes for a moment. "I thought so. Which is just another reason I tried to find you. But everything just got worse. When I finally mustered the courage, you were gone. Whoever moved into your place didn't know where you had moved to. Nobody at the Scouts knew anything or seemed to want to know. How little they all cared. That struck me hard when I was a kid. Nobody minded that you were just gone."

"You did, though." Nick emptied the rest of his coffee. "And I think I haven't thanked you yet."

The Zebra stared at him wide-eyed. "Oh, no. Not for that."

"Yes for that. It still doesn't happen too often, you know? " Nick laughed over a sudden thought. "Just, don't expect me to fall in love with you. That spot in my heart has already been taken."

Zach gave him a weak grin. "I think I can live with that. I'm just glad I can finally close that part of my childhood."

"Oh, you won't. Believe me. You will remember what happened. And I'm glad for that."

Zach cocked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you-"

Nick raised his paws. "I'm telling you that if you cared and minded till now, you will keep on doing so. That's what I learned over the years. No matter how far I moved on, my childhood wouldn't stay behind. Something tells me all these Junior Scouts you take care of each day will make sure the same goes for you."

"Of course they do. That's even why I'm still here. To remind me of what happened. To not let it happen again. I want to help them to be better mammals than I was. I know that what happened will always be a part of who I am. But at least, I can live with it now."

"Honestly, I'm glad to hear that. As great as ideals are, I think you learn best from those who broke them before."

"I still think it would be better if there were none to learn from in the first place."

Nick shrugged. "And I think it would be better if banks were handing out free money. But that's just not how it works."

"Yeah, I know it's wishful thinking," Zach agreed. "Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise learn from others' mistakes. Either way, I just want them to be the best that they can be. And that's why you being here is even better."

"I won't teach them anything any other cop wouldn't have."

"Oh, you will. Because you're still a fox. A fox who defied anything the rest of us have thrown at him. Who pursued a career society deemed him to be unsuited for. I hope I'm not going too far by saying you had everything stacked against you?"

"Well, almost everything."

Zach nodded. "Yet here you are."

Nick stopped for a moment. He looked down his own uniform. Then he looked back at the smiling Zebra. "That's some thought. Now you honestly make me wonder whether that might be what the Chief had in mind."

"Even if not, that's what you're going to do." Finally, Zach also drank the rest of his coffee. "In that sense, we need to go."

He got up and opened the door. Nick stepped through, then let Zach lead the way. He never would have anticipated this assignment would turn out so promising. Exciting, even.

Shortly after, Nick stood in front of two dozen pairs of expecting eyes. At first, this view was almost as intimidating as the Chief during his worst of moods. But the eager looks of beaming children calmed him down. Soon, his acquired instincts took over. He took a deep breath and scanned his attendance.

Half of them were wildebeests. Of course, he thought. The rest were wildly mixed. Yet two of them caught his eye. One was a young wolf, the other a weasel. The latter even wore the insignia of a pack leader.

"Okay, pack, this is Officer Wilde. As you all know, he is here to teach us about traffic safety today. But first, as we do with every meeting, we'll open with our oath."

At the words of their Scout Master, the children rose from their seats. Their paws and hooves raised, they waited for him to begin.

Nick's stomach cramped up. He cursed himself for not expecting this. Of course they'd start off with the oath. He did his best to keep his eyes on the ground while the attention was not on him. His mind clung to the apology he had just received. Yet despite every effort, it was already drifting back to that one evening.

Until Zach's voice pierced through the draping shroud. "Officer Wilde, would you maybe like to do us the honor of leading us in the oath?"

The world went silent for an eternal second. Nick had to repeat these words in his head to realize their magnitude. He lifted his head and saw Zach smiling at him. Somewhere deep in his heart, he could hear a child cheer him on to say yes. He made a mental note to find out what the Chief's favorite drink was and faced the pack again. Praying they wouldn't see that tear running from his right eye, he raised his paw.

""I—Nicholas Wilde—promise to be..."


	11. Reverie

A flag, set into a brass stand was raised unmoving at the front of the auditorium. Its colors faded, its fabric worn with age, perfectly symbolized the firefighter's life. Fire Chief Herman McGruff pondered it, as he mentally prepared to address the crowd. He was an aging ram, gray and worn, just like the flag he stood beside. Like the flag, he stood a silent vigil, ready to perform the duty he dreaded most. It was the final duty, the last watch for the fallen. It was about the only time he was brought out these days. A relic of bygone years, he hadn't actually needed to do much in order to keep his stations operating. Even when he was needed, there was little interpersonal communications he was required to make. Hit a few buttons, perhaps make a call, and that was it. Much like the flag, he had long passed his prime and considered usefulness. Nine times, he had been on this stage before. Nine times, he had tried to offer comfort to a grieving family. Nine times he had spoken, and given the award to families, whose loved one had paid the ultimate price for it, with only a worn old flag for company. He hated that flag.

The auditorium was packed with members of different species, all intermingling. They muttered quietly to one another, never quiet reaching the point of full conversation. The air was still, musty, and patient, giving the space an oppressive and somber mood. Despite the lack of space, the building was packed to capacity, and perhaps a little beyond, ironically. It mattered not who was who, or how they had known the fallen. The fact they were there, in that shared space, tied them intimately together. For all intents and purposes, for today at least, they were family.

Silence fell, as the pipes began. The drums beat, a steady staccato, as the warbling tune echoed throughout the hall. The pipes marched, their cadence steady, as they moved up the central isle. Blue and gold, rhythm and beat, step by step up the aisle. Moving with an inevitability and purpose, they rounded the front of the stage and took their places beside a photograph set in a simple black plastic frame. The music wound to a close, the pipers and drummers, arms clasped before them, bowed their heads in respect. The ram stepped forward, up to a podium with the crossed axes of the ZFD embossed on its front.

"A hero has fallen." He began, voice steady and sure. Gentle, yet containing a power within that reached all the way to the back of the auditorium without the need of electronics. "We stand now, as one, to honor his passing." He paused, taking a moment to retrieve a set of golden reading spectacles from the crisply starched breast pocket of his uniform. He settled them on the bridge of his muzzle, and began to read from a sheet of paper awaiting him at the podium. "We gather today to pay our respects, and honor a mammal who has paid the ultimate price. A mammal we all knew, who has touched us all with his acts of kindness and fellowship. We gather to remember."

Calvin ran, a group of 23 other recruits keeping pace beside him. His lungs burned, as the physical exercise continued to push him beyond the scope of exhaustion.

"You've got to be kidding me rabbit, you still here?" Instructor Maletero shook her head, staring at the rabbit as he sped past.

"Yes mam."

"You know you're taking the spot of a mammal who might actually be a firefighter right?"

"Yes mam."

"Mmhmm. Keep running bunny. Better earn that spot."

"Yes mam." It was all he ever said. When someone asked whether he was serious. Whether he actually thought he had a snowball's chance in hell. When one of his classmates questioned his sanity. All he ever said was yes mam or yes sir.

The others looked on, panting in sharp breathes, as they pushed themselves to keep going. One of the things most didn't know, was there was only two ways to flunk out of the academy. The first was to show an inability to perform the job, which included things like refusing to go into a burning building, gross incompetence, and the like. The second, and much more common, was to give up. Any candidate, at any time, could call it quits, and that would be that. They could try as many times to pass the physically arduous tests as they wanted. Most didn't try a second time. Most classes lost half their members before the end of week five. Considering there were 28 weeks in the academy, it meant that each class usually ended up graduating fewer than ten candidates. This class, however, was special. For some reason, one the upper echelons of the ZFD couldn't quite figure out, this entire class was sticking with it. Even though they were on week 8, not one had quite. The members of class 2095 knew the reason of course. The rabbit. Not a one was willing to quite before that bunny. Not one could stomach the idea of going home when that bunny was still there. They eyed him, angry and frustrated, but continued on. They kept running and hating the fluffy little bastard for it.

"Why won't you quit? You retarded or something?" The buffalo stared down at the rabbit, tray of food gripped so tightly, it looked as if it were on the verge of shattering. The rabbit looked up to him, nose twitching as if pondering the question.

Nodding to himself, Calvin looked up to the buffalo and nodded. "Yes sir." The buffalo snorted and sauntered away to his own table, muttering darkly under his breathe. It had been a lonely time in the academy. Even after 15 weeks, he hadn't gotten to know any other members of his class. At first, it had been because they had all assumed he would quit. No need to make friends with someone you weren't going to see for much longer. Then, as it became more and more apparent he wouldn't quit, that reservation had turned into resentment. Calvin wasn't certain, but he assumed at least part of that was the fact he had managed to get into the academy despite not meeting some of the size requirements. The MII was still in effect, however, and so his position had been all but guaranteed. Right or wrong, that sort of preferential treatment, in a job so competitive, led to resentment. He sighed, picking at his food, as he prepared himself mentally for another tough day of training.

"Hold the hose, damnit." Roared the furious lion, trying to put out the flames in front of him. Leoric Rusere struggled as the heavy hose jounced across the floor of an old, beat up mobile home. The instructors, wanting to give the recruits a taste of real firefighting, had gleefully torched the donated residence, once it had been removed to a landfill owned by the ZFD. Leoric looked back to his partner for the day, the rabbit. The rabbit struggled with the hose, which likely weighed nearly as much as he did, if not more. As such, instead of a steady, controlled stream, the water spurted erratically, spoiling the lion's aim.

"Yes sir!" He yelled, and clenched his teeth, finally managing to regain control of the hose. The lion grunted, and started to spray the fire into submission. Without warning, part of the ceiling gave way, pelting the lion with flaming debris, causing him to drop the hose in surprise. Without the aid of his much larger partner, Calvin was forced to lock his legs and attempting to regain control. While Calvin wrestled with the hose, its metal nozzle snaked backwards and clubbed him over the head. His helmet took the brunt of the hit, but it still staggered the smaller mammal. He held on though, gritting his teeth, long enough for the lion to recover and seize the end of the wildly jouncing hose. Together, they managed to finish putting out the flames, and made their way out of the building, staggering as they did so.

"15 minutes boys, slow." Maletero looked up from her stop watchand frowned. "The hell happened to you rabbit? You alright?"

Calvin swayed, then sat down, as he removed his helmet. Blood welled on the bases of both ears, from there the sudden blow had compressed the helmet onto them. A splitting headache had started, and he felt like we wanted to throw up. He saw Leoric, swallow and brace himself. Dropping the hose, even for an instant, was a fairly egregious offense. Considering it had injured a fellow trainee, Leoric was in seriously hot water. Perhaps even enough to wash out of the Academy.

"My fault mam." Calvin rubbed his head, and smiled up to the elephant. "Hose clipped me when we were moving. I got it under control, but if rung my bell a little." The lion, wisely kept his mouth shut, but stared at the rabbit, a look of surprise on his muzzle.

"Class, I want you all too pay attention to something right here." She gestured to the rabbit and his injuries. "Let this be a lesson to each of you as to why we always keep our hoses close to our bodies. Also, let this be a lesson as to why we always wear our helmets." She looked back to the pair, gesturing to a pair of bored looking EMT's watching the festivities. "Rusere, take the rabbit to get him checked out, then come back and help us clean up this mess. He nodded and reached a paw down to help the rabbit up.

As they made their way back to the ambulance, Leoric whispered, "You alright?"

"Yes si..."

"Leoric"

"Hmm? Oh, sure Leoric, I'm good"

"You told them it was your fault." Leoric caught the rabbit, as he stumbled a bit, nearly dropping to the ground as a wave of vertigo washed over him.

"Kinda was." His unmistakable country accent gave the words a gentle burr.

"How ya figure?" The lion paused and the rabbit looked up towards him and shrugged.

"We was partners. Had to work together."

"You know that I could have been removed from the program. You got hurt because I fucked up."

Calvin shrugged again. "We was partners." He said simply, and clapped a paw onto the much larger mammals shoulder. They made the rest of their way to the EMT's in silence, side by side.

The tower, was the final exam in the academy. Fully 100 feet of metal scaffolding and wooden platforms, it was the duty of each trainee to make it all the way to the top, fully loaded with their gear, and ring the old fire bell set at its apex. Twenty four trainees stood before it, their last obstacle, and prepared themselves mentally for the journey.

"Think this will be hard?" Leoric asked, nervously gnawing on one paw.

"Shoot, for a mammal as big and tough as you, naaw." Calvin, shifted nervously, despite his outward bravado.

"Easy for you to say. You've got the MII backing you. Likely to bring you up in an elevator filled with beer and bunnies of loose morals."

"It is nice to be a celebrity." He acknowledged and checked his gear once more. The names were called, and as each classmate climbed the tower, the class watched in silence. As each ascended and rang the bell, the class watched in silence. Part of the tradition of the tower, was that each person had to face it alone. Even as each member of the class came to the bottom, they were met only with silence. When Leoric's name was called, he shared a nod with Calvin and began to ascend the tower. It was tougher than the Lion would have anticipated. With the added weight, even straight stairs were a challenge. Step by step though, he climbed the tower, forcing himself not to look down. He nearly lost it, on one changeover, as he was forced to lay his heels out into the open air. He shuffled his paws, side to side, and forced his fear down. The last few steps were the worst, as the wind was much stronger at the top, but it didn't stop him from ringing the bell, a smile blooming on his face. He made his way back down, feeling somehow lighter as he did so, and reached the ground, once again to silence. Then it was Calvin's turn.

The rabbit struggled up the first stairs. Set at a height for larger animals, he was forced to climb them each, with a small but powerful leap. He persisted, step by step, as he crested the first flight. It was evident to everyone though, that the weight was taking its toll. He hung on, though, as he shimmied over a narrow bridge, forced to keep low in order to avoid the growing wind. He paused at the bottom of the second flight and shook his head. Minutes passed, as he ascended the tower, putting his paws in front of each other, step by step, obstacle by obstacle. About three quarters of the way up, his luck ran out. His back paw slipped as he raised it to cross a shifting platform and he fell to one knee. A groan rose from 23 throats, as the worst possible thing to happen to a fully loaded mammal could happen. Once the equipment was in place, it was hard enough to keep moving without dropping it. If it did fall, it was damned hard to get it back up again. With it pressing on him like it was, Calvin was nearly folded in half, his tail set squarely between his long back paws. Spine bowed, he tried to rise, but fell back on his fluffy little tail. He tried again, each piece of equipment quivering as he struggled to overcome gravity. He did not. For a moment, the rabbit sat, shaking in fatigue. He was too far up to see, but the motion was clear to every mammal on the ground. He was going to give up.

"Hell no rabbit, don't you do it." A buffalo cried out.

"Come on Cal, do it!" Leoric yelled.

"Dig!" Another said, a chant that was quickly picked up by the whole. "Dig" they cried, and Calvin pushed. "Dig" they cried, and he started to shake. "Dig" the chorus rose, and slowly, so did Calvin. Each obstacle was harder, but each was met by more cheers of 'dig.' Each time it appeared the rabbit would fail, he was met by a chanting of 'dig.' Each time, the silence was pierced, until the last, when it was pierced instead by three sharp clangs of an old red bell. The climb down was no picnic either, but he did it, accompanied by the cheering of a crowd of 23 mammals, each and every one, a graduate. When his paws touched dirt, they all moved forward patting him on the back and chanting '24.' For the first time in the history of the Zootopian Fire Fighter Academy, an entire class would graduate. Not one, had quit. They stopped their celebration, at the clearing of a large, elephantine throat.

"You know," She gestured to her clip board, "You were each to remain silent during the ascent." They looked at each other, chagrined. "Damn odd that I lost my sense of hearing." She smiled, nodding to the little rabbit at their center. "Coltsfoot, care to know your time?"

Breathing hard, the rabbit nodded. "Sure."

"42 minutes 39 seconds. It's a new academy record." She grinned. "No one has ever taken that long before."

"Yah hear that fellas." He said gulping air as he did, "I got a record. Y'all need to step up your game." They laughed, some shaking their heads at his antics. Together, they gathered their supplies and made their way back to their dormitory. They made their way to their futures.

"I would like to take a moment and read to you an account from the ZDF's official commendation." The old ram cleared his throat, smoothing out the page before him. "At 22:25, a call was made to emergency services reporting a fire at the Shades on the Canal apartment complex, Meadowlands. Ladders 25, 32, and 38 were dispatched to combat the fire, and rescue any mammals trapped by the blaze. Calvin Matthius Coltsfoot was dispatched with his team, where he worked to rescue mammals trapped by the fire. Time and again, he made his way into the building, through passageways too narrow for other mammals to navigate, in order to lead others to safety. In total, he made 29 trips into the building, rescuing 49 mammals from the flames. During his last trip, the tunnel he was moving through collapsed. Radio contact was lost soon after." Silent tears filled eyes, as the onlookers turned to the picture, Calvin's academy graduation portrait. "In the performance of duty, while on call, under extreme and hazardous conditions, in which he was confronted with imminent personal risk, had full knowledge of those risks, he performed an act of conspicuous heroism which furthers the highest traditions of the fire service. Therefore, Calvin Coltsfoot is awarded the Zootopian Medal of Honor. Accepting this award posthumously, are Richard and Abigail Coltsfoot, Calvin's parents."

To the sound of applause, the ram made his way down the stairs at the side of the stage, removing a small leather box from his pocket as he did so. He slowly approached the pair of middle aged rabbits, clenching each other as if they might blow away in some great storm. He kneeled before them, and gently placed the box in Mrs. Coltsfoot's lap. He then whispered something to them, something not another soul could hear. The effect it had though was immediate, as Mrs. Coltsfoot was wracked with deep sobs. Mr. Coltsfoot steadied her, a look of bitter anguish on his muzzle. McGruff made his way back to the podium, his movements crisp and sure, and removed the glasses from his muzzle. The applause died almost instantly. "It is said that there is no greater love, than that of a mammal who would give their life for their friends. How much greater then must love be, for a mammal who would give their life for a stranger. Calvin laid down his life, so that others may live. He served, with a willingness and genuineness that touched every mammal who served with him." In the crowd, 24 seats sat, 23 occupied. The mammals in those seats nodded, most of all, a lion with a cub on his lap. "Heroes, never die. They may pass on. They may be gone from this world. But they live on in their actions. Through the mammals they touched. In the case of Calvin Coltsfoot, there are 49 mammals here today, each bearing a solemn promise. We won't forget you. We won't forget your sacrifice. For the rest of our days, until the light of Lylus burns out and our bodies are cast to the void. We will remember."

It was the type of day only a child in school could appreciate. The wind blew gently, bringing with it the smell of new growth. Spring was just beginning to show itself in bunny burrow and the children at Hawthorn Elementary stared wistfully out the windows as their teacher, Mrs. Borage tried desperately to keep them on task. She had a very important guest for them to meet that day and she expected the lot to be on their best behavior. All 93 of Calvin's classmates turned grudgingly back to their teacher and listened to her list of expectations. Mrs. Borage was a stern doe of middling years, who had high expectations of her class despite the temptations drifting lazily from the opened windows. Calvin waited with the others, feeling the beginnings of a day dream shifting sleepily in his imagination, one filled with laughter, and playing, and fun. Mrs. Borage was still speaking, when there was a knock at their classroom door and a hush fell over the assembled mammals of her class. Calvin would never forget that moment, when his life changed forever. When he looked up, to see something he had never seen before. A pretty young doe, with grey fur, wearing a police uniform.

Officer Hopps held his class's attention in a way that Mrs. Borage could only dream of. She told them of her work with the Zootopia Police Department, how she had gone to school right there, in bunny burrow. But most of all, she told them they could make a difference. That no matter what type of animal they were, they could do big things. They were fixated, and for weeks after she had come, they all wanted to be the police mammals. As time progressed, as children often do, they fixated on other things, and soon enough, spring came in earnest. Summer vacation was just around the corner, and that passion they had only weeks before was redirected into anticipation for what was to come. But for Calvin, that moment was fixed in his memory, and while he didn't know for sure what he was going to do, he knew that he wanted to do big things. And so he did.


	12. Old Arrangements

By: Zanrok

"You and I know that _both_ of our families need this deal!" the red fox said waving his arm in exasperation at the country farmer bunny sitting across from him.

The bunny was grinding his teeth so hard that the sound was audible, "Now see here, _fox_. You're in _my_ burrow right now. I won't have any of your kind telling me what _my_ family needs!"

The fox rubbed his paws against his temples trying to sooth away the headache that their long argument had caused. "Mr. Hopps, I don't like this anymore than you do, frankly I wish I'd never had to talk to a stuck up country bumpkin bunny like yourself." The rabbit across from him seemed ready to shout but the fox continued right over him, "But, this isn't about what you or I want. My grocery store _needs_ to find some sort of advantage over that damn supermart chain in Zootopia, or it's going to put us out of business. Your farm is nearly bankrupt because you refused to sell out to that damned monopoly and now they won't buy your produce. You need to find someone to sell your supplies to and I need to find a supplier. That road side stand isn't going to support your family. It simply can't sell enough of your produce. My store in Zootopia _can_."

Mr. Hopps jumped off the couch and started pacing back and forth. He wanted to yell and shout at the damned fox sitting across from him, but Mr. Wilde was right. They were both over a barrel and they both knew it.

"How the hell can I trust some shifty fox to not stab me in the back?" Mr. Hopps didn't realize that he'd spoken that aloud until he heard Mr. Wilde's response.

"How the hell can I trust some stuck up rabbit to not rip me off?"

They glared at each other for another minute, neither willing to give any ground.

Mr. Hopps finally broke the stare; he gestured around him at the house they were in. "You see this _fox_ , this house, this land, they've been in my family for 14 generations, it's where I grew up, It's where I started my own family. If I make this deal with you and you don't hold up to your end of the bargain, I'll lose everything! Not just the house and the land itself, but the house that my _family_ lives in! The land that provides for my _family_! If I lose this then my _family_ are the ones that will suffer! So, how can you sit there and tell me that I can place the _safety_ , the _future_ of my _family_ in your _claws_!"

Mr. Wilde was now on his feet, anger just as apparent on his face as the rabbit's across from him.

"You don't think I have a _family_ to protect?! A _family_ to provide for? Do you think I like putting my _family's_ future in the hands of some rabbit that would probably like nothing more than to see us out homeless on the street?!"

The two stood not a foot apart now glaring at each other, the rabbit with paws fisted and foot thumping angrily and the fox letting out a low growl.

There was a set of happy and terrified squeals from the kitchen down the hall before two small shapes came running out. The small gray and red blurs raced down the hall and into the room, squealing delightedly the whole way as a matronly rabbit wearing an apron with a carrot stitched on the front of it and a vixen waving a wooden stirring spoon came out into the hall berating them.

The two very young kits ran right between the fox and the bunny that were moments away from coming to blows and scrambled behind a sofa in the corner of the room to hide, giggling and whispering back and forth, though doing a horrible job of preventing anyone else from hearing.

"I told you they'd see us!"

"So?"

"We're going to get in trouble!"

"only if they find us."

"What? Are we going to hide from them forever?"

"Why not? We've got each other!"

*giggle*

"Fine, but what are we going to do for food?"

*giggle and snicker*

"We'll go steal more cookie dough!"

*giggles*

"I can't steal! I'm going to be a cop when I grow up!"

"We weren't really stealing, they were making it for us anyway. And why do you want to be a cop?"

"Because then I can help people, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Um, I don't know. Um, I want to be a ranger scout, that way I can help people too!"

*giggle*

"Silly, that's not a job!"

"Well, I'll just be a cop too then!"

*squeal*

"Really!? We could be partners and catch criminals!"

*laughs and giggles*

"That sounds like fun! So, you promise? You'll be my best friend and partner on the police force?"

"YES!" *smooching sound*

"Hey! You can't do that! Girls have cuddies!"

"So? You're my best friend!" *smooching sound*

"Hey, that's embarrassing! Stop or I'll tickle you!"

"Try and I'll tickle you too! And cuddies are a myth!"

*smooching sound followed by squeals of laughter*

A ball of red and gray fur came tumbling out from behind the sofa. It was hard to pick out one kit from the other as they tumbled back and forth laughing the entire time.

The doe and the vixen from the kitchen entered the room.

"Judith!" "Nicholas!" came the simultaneous scolding voices.

The tangled bundle of fur rolling on the floor stopped, and two small faces looked at the pair of wives in the doorway before squealing in fright and running out of the room paw in paw.

The two wives turned their angry attention to the fox and the rabbit that, while still looking ready to fight, also looked a bit startled and confused by the whirlwind of excited kits.

"You two have been in here for 3 hours and gotten nothing done!" The angry doe stated, while the equally angry vixen thumped the wooden stirring spoon while crossing her arms.

The bucks ears drooped and the tods ears flattened. They both looked a little guilty, if still angry, as their wives berated them.

"If you two are so worried about only your own individual families," the doe started after they had sufficiently chastised their husbands, "Then we'll just have to make sure that there's only one family to worry about." The vixen next to the doe nodded her head in agreement.

The buck spoke with a bit of anger, "You expect me to try and consider them family?!" at the same time the tod replied with a defiant, "And how do you expect to do that!"

Both the females grinned in not very pleasant ways. This time it was the vixen that spoke up. "Since you two have been getting nowhere, we've already taken care of it. Bonnie's brother, a lawyer in town here just called us and told us the paperwork has been officially sealed by the town judge." she gestured to where the two small kits had made their escape. And the doe next to her nodded in smug agreement, before they both said, "You two had better start considering what's best for _our_ family."


	13. Nothing, Not Nearly

By: YFWE

He allowed the silence to envelop him, practically bathed in it, even if it was not silence per se but muffled noise, quieter than before.

He took what he could get.

And yet he knew it would be brief, short-lived. That this was just some small respite from the inevitable, a stopgap that would soon open up and consume him whole.

Though he relished that, too. Craved a move back into the fold, rejoining the front lines. Exhaustion yet eagerness. A yawn, a stretch, a skip, a jump.

Nothing could keep him from it. Nothing, not nearly anything.

But Nick Wilde still gripped the edges of the bathroom sink, the one he had picked out during the previous year's renovation project, or at least its granite surface he had chosen. He stared into the mirror in front of him, studying the features of the fox he saw before him, recognizing above all the bags under his eyes.

Which he had expected, and as a police officer who kept decidedly long hours, it was not unheard of before then either, familiar almost. He would normally be in bed by now, and so would Judy, preparing for another lengthy day at the precinct. The fact that, instead, here he was staring at his own reflection, and there she was in the other room, also still wide awake through it all, was new, and there was no end in sight. But he tried to keep his mind fixed on the positives.

Like that quiet he was now experiencing.

Nick sighed, flipping on the sink's faucet and allowing his paws to soak up the flowing water, embracing its warmth. He heard the softest of noises outside, a tiny chuckle, and smiled to himself before splashing some of the rushing liquid into his face, shutting his eyes tight as droplets speckled his snout. He reached for a towel to dry his fur, calmly appreciating its silky texture.

And then there he was, out the door yet again.

Judy was there. So was she, their visitor – though she was not a visitor, was she? Certainly not anymore, not since today. Before, yes, but that was a trial period, they called it. Something to ensure the household was safe and ready for smaller mammals – or any mammal, really, but the latter was hardly their business, Nick felt.

They were curled up on the living room floor, Nick barely able to discern where one mammal ended and the other began, like the sea against a shore. Judy regarded him only briefly, producing a weary smile to accompany her own somnolent gaze, amethyst pupils only barely discernible in between drooping eyelids.

"I didn't see you leave," she purred, holding back a yawn Nick knew was futile to stop, even though she tried anyway.

"I don't think you tried to," he responded, something both of them knew to be true.

Judy moved her left arm slightly as Jade cooed, a small noise but one they were used to by then, since it had appeared intermittently throughout the day. The little bobcat shifted on the carpeted floor, stretching her arms over her head as her diminutive blue eyes scanned the ceiling that stretched between her mother and father, eventually resting on the fox nearby, who faux-grimaced.

"I've been spotted."

Jade sputtered.

"Judy, help."

The rabbit could only roll her eyes. "Too bad. Get down here. If I have to be awake with her at this hour, so do you."

Which Nick did not actually mind. Not at all, not nearly.

The fox lowered himself to the ground, feeling his joints pop as he propped himself against their easy chair. It was a satisfying feeling, and what awaited him afterward was all the sweeter.

They had always been sold on Jade, after all. From the moment Judy knew she would never accept a bunny, and Nick a fox, not because they did not want one but because how could they adopt one, how could they accept something that might be one of them but not the other? Nick would love something with Judy's eyes, of course, and Judy his, but the other would never allow it, would let there be even the utter possibility that the child could love the other more simply because they shared blood or because one parent looked more like them than the other did.

Instead, Jade was a miracle, they said, a tiny thing that arrived far sooner than her real mother ever expected and barely hung on after that. She was probably always destined for Zootopia's adoption circuit, both parents far too young and ill-prepared to take on a cub of their own both then and for probably years down the road. They said she might never quite grow to the height a normal bobcat would, and there could be developmental problems down the road. It was all a tossup, but her simple existence was a triumph enough.

And that had been all Nick and Judy needed. Unable to conceive on their own, because the world just worked that way. Not looking for something of their species or even tangentially related to it, because of their own partialities. And something that would very realistically be a struggle – because even if Jade was short for a bobcat, she would eventually tower over a fox and rabbit.

But Judy had always been a tryer, and Nick, by extension, fancied himself one nowadays as well. Nothing could have changed that, not nearly anything at all.

For now, she was smaller than Judy, but not by much. Practically the same fur color, save for Jade's dark brown spots across her chest, the nape of her neck, down her tail and at the tips of her ears. And wide awake, it seemed, though they had expected it. And it would not yet deter them, not nearly.

"How are you feeling?" Judy asked once Nick seemed situated, glancing up at the fox while her paw trailed in a circle against Jade's forehead while she babbled and prattled aimlessly.

"Unspeakably tired. I got a glance at the clock while I was in there."

"Oh?"

Nick nodded. "Put on your detective's hat and guess the time."

"My hat isn't any diff—"

"Metaphorical hat. C'mon."

"Uh… I'm gonna say 1:30."

Snickering, Nick laid his head back against the cushion of the easy chair, propping one arm against his raised knee, the other leg trailing off underneath the chair behind him. "Goodness. Carrots, I wish I were that optimistic. It's cute, though. Keep doing it." His mind briefly paused on the c-word, but he made sure to remind himself that she did not mind the word anymore.

"Later?"

"Heh."

She closed her eyes but continued to stroke Jade's head. "Then I don't want to know. For my sanity."

"There ya go. Denial."

"I just don't want to think about it until I'm in the bullpen tomorrow."

Nick shrugged. "Eh. You're with Francine tomorrow, and I told her to expect to take the reins."

"Least you could do since you'll be home tomorrow."

"Yeah, dealing with this." He gestured beneath him.

"And getting takeout for lunch while showing her off at the park. Poor thing."

He flashed a toothy grin. "You're right. I've got it made. And I can already taste the egg rolls."

"Yeah, well, my turn after that."

"Can babies eat egg rolls?" he asked, ignoring her.

"Nick."

"I mean, look, I'd want to start her early."

"Nick."

"I'd order for her, Carrots. I'm sure she wouldn't know what to get. And she's not much of a talker."

"Nich-o-las."

His ears flicked. "Hey, the full name's out. What's the haps?"

Judy groaned. "First of all, please don't feed our child fried food."

"I won't, but if she orders it while I'm not looking, I can't be held responsible."

"…and you haven't responded about the next day."

"Well, I think we're beholden to Bogo's schedule in that case, Carrots, and he's got us alternating each day. And you know me, I'm not one to mess with the schedule. The schedule is law."

The rabbit stopped stroking Jade's forehead, rolling over onto her back and staring at their apartment ceiling. "Didn't you get in trouble for printing off your own schedule in the exact setup and font Bogo uses, hoping no one w—"

"Shh. Baby isn't getting attention. Baby needs attention," Nick cut her off, reaching down to gather Jade into his arms. Her weight nearly forced his paws to buckle underneath it, but he was prepared this time, or at least more prepared than usual. After all, she had been home for a few days, and there were all the trips to the long-term hospital before then.

He swore she grew every time.

"Baby needs you to actually rock her to sleep this time," muttered Judy, closing her eyes. "You know it's hard for me, but it's the fastest way to get her back to bed."

"No playtime?" he asked, frowning.

"You saw the time yourself."

"Hush. I know."

After a few moments, the bunny opened her eyes again and rolled onto her stomach, propping up her head with her paws as she considered Nick, now gently swaying his arms with Jade within them. It was striking, she thought, how well she fit there, knowing full well it would be short-lived. She was still young, but far from her newborn days, and the growth spurts would likely begin soon. She would savor the image as long as she could.

Something about the visual stirred a newfound question within her.

"OK, so this might be a dumb question…"

"You're right."

"…but do foxes prefer to be rocked to sleep too? Like… like Jade does?"

Nick chuckled. "Fluff, I'm pretty sure that's universal."

"I dunno. Mom never did, she said."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, there was just so many of us at once that I guess it just… didn't really work that way. That kind of personalized attention, I mean," said Judy softly.

Nick glanced up and pondered it, though his gentle rocking did not cease. "I suppose that's a good point."

"But you were?" she asked.

"Uh huh. Or so Mom says. I mean, I guess we have to go on their word, right?"

"Right."

"I found pictures too, though. Dad, Mom, didn't matter. Photographic evidence."

She smiled. "Surprised your mom hasn't shown me those yet."

"Give it time."

Judy's ears flopped in front of her face as she lowered her head closer to the ground. "You were a cute kit."

"So you say," he said with a shrug.

"And likewise."

"Well, yes. If our genes were somehow able to be spliced together, you'd probably give whatever monstrosity came out the other end a fighting chance at true love."

"Hey, the way science is progressing, maybe we'll try that with our second one."

Nick barked out a laugh. "I don't think we're anywhere near that. And even then, I'm scared to know what would come of it. Though I'm sure someone's drawn it."

With a chuckle of her own, Judy rolled back onto her back and glanced up at Nick, albeit upside down. "Besides, Jade's perfect."

"Yes. Yes, she is." Nick bent low and whispered closer to the tiny bobcat. "You hear that? You're perfect. Five gold stars, trophies for days. And none of those participation trophies. You got that? You're a winner."

Jade cooed.

"Sure, let's give her her dad's ego right off the bat."

"Dad's informed modesty and taste for egg rolls. I like her already."

"You love her."

"…I do," he murmured with a smile, his snout pointed down at his adopted daughter, who prompted reached up and grabbed it with two outstretched, flailing paws.

"Nick, what'd I say about playtime?"

"Can't help it," the fox said, his voice suddenly nasal.

The grandfather clock near the kitchen of their two-bedroom apartment chimed, and both of them knew exactly what time it signaled by its end.

"Cheese and crackers…"

"Go."

Judy perked up, gazing at Nick. "Huh? No, I—"

"If those bags under your eyes get any bigger, we're gonna start being able to put stuff in them, and given what we've been throwing away lately," he jerked his head slightly toward the child in his arms, "I don't think you want that."

"Yeah, but what about you?"

Nick flashed an apathetic expression as he shrugged. "I don't have work tomorrow. You should at least be presentable."

He looked down at Jade. "Besides, we need to stop talking if we're actually going to get her to sleep."

"I know. I keep thinking about it, but I… I don't know. I just want to…"

"Keep talking about her?"

"Yeah. About her. To her. I want her to hear my voice, know who I am. Know it's me, it's Mom." Her eyes met his. "Is that weird?"

"I mean, parents are weird in general most of the time, I think. But that's exactly what their kids need. So no."

She smiled, struggling to rise to her feet, wobbling slightly as she finally stood. "I might go to bed," she conceded. "But only maybe. And you can't make me do anything otherwise, Slick," she added defiantly.

"Whatever. Goodnight."

He barely noticed her leave, his ears tuned to the little cub's sudden sound, a kind of gurgle, as she reached for his face yet again.

The silence was fine. She almost preferred it because it lulled her closer to sleep and because it signaled tranquility, which had previously felt attainable yet oddly distant.

But she could not bring herself to mind. Even as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, studying those bags under her eyes Nick had so aptly pointed out, it felt normal, fine, certainly acceptable. Another day on the job, even.

And how could she, anyway? How could she not long for the non-silence, the anything-but-silence?

Nothing could keep her from it. Nothing, not nearly anything.


	14. Savages

By: Fire_of_1584

"Bye, Mom!" Aaron shouted as he hopped out of the car and headed towards the playground.

"Have a good day, sweetie!" the black bear called out. "Be safe!"

Aaron turned and waved, noting that she hadn't seemed so worried since when he had started Kindergarten two years earlier. He wasn't sure what danger he could be in at an elementary school, but he didn't want to disobey his mother, either. "I will!" he promised.

A minute later he was walking by the swings, looking for his best friend. He quickly spotted him in a group of small animals by the slides and ran over. "Hey, Conrad. What are you guys playing?" he asked the rhino calf.

The group turned to him, surprise on their faces. "Hey, Aaron," Conrad responded unenthusiastically. "Um… we were just about to start a game of tag."

"Sounds fun!" Aaron grinned at the other mammals; an elk, a camel, a pig, and a mountain goat. None of them smiled back, and most of them stared at their feet. Aaron stopped smiling.

"I, uh, think we were just going to play the five of us," Conrad explained lamely.

Aaron paused. "But we always play together, Conrad." The rhino sighed, but didn't say anything else. "Well, maybe he can play together after lunch?" he offered.

"Yeah, maybe," Conrad replied, but didn't sound very convincing.

"Okay," Aaron said softly, turning and walking away with his ears flat against his head.

Aaron sat alone on the swing, trying not to notice the group of mammals now laughing and having fun chasing each other around the playground. Finally the bell rung for class to begin, and he got off the swing and trudged inside.

Aaron sat at his desk in the second row with a very confused look on his face. At the front of the class was a deer, writing "Mr. Porter" on the whiteboard. Aaron waited for the deer to turn around, then raised his hand.

"Yes… Aaron?" Mr. Porter said, checking a piece of paper in his hand.

"What happened to Ms. Ursa? She isn't sick, is she?" Aaron loved his usual teacher. She was very nice and good at explaining things, and it probably helped that she was also a bear, although polar bears grew much taller than black bears.

Mr. Porter smiled, causing Aaron's frown to disappear. "Ms. Ursa is just fine. The school is just testing a new system that would allow substitute teachers like myself to get more experience. And… perhaps also make more students comfortable."

Aaron's head tilted to the side. That last bit didn't make much sense. Were some of the other students scared because Ms. Ursa was so tall?

"She'll be back though, right?" Kate, a giraffe to Aaron's right asked.

Mr. Porter hesitated. "I'm sure she'll be back very soon. Now, everyone please take out your math homework from Friday, please."

Aaron gobbled up his beetle patty and berry salad as quickly as he could and rushed out to the playground. He checked the swings, then the slides, and finally found Conrad at the courts around the foursquare area. He was with a different group of mammals this time. A moose was holding a ball and explaining the game to Conrad, Kate, and a hippo.

"Hey, guys!" Aaron said cheerfully, "mind if I join you?" The three kids turned to Conrad expectantly.

"We were actually hoping to play without rotations, so that we could learn the game faster. Sorry," he added.

Aaron frowned. What was going on? Did he do something wrong? Did Conrad not like him anymore? "Bu-but what if one of you gets tired? Or maybe I could just watch?"

The moose glared at him and stepped forward menacingly, causing Aaron to jumped back. "Why don't you go play with the other preds?" he said in an annoyed voice.

Aaron could feel his lower lip start to quiver. "W-what?!"

Pointing over to the corner of the playground where a couple wolves, a badger, and a lynx were sitting in the dirt, the moose yelled "Go away!"

Aaron looked over to Conrad, hoping his best friend would come to his defense. Instead the rhino turned towards to other two players and ignored him. Tears started to flow, and Aaron ran towards the corner before anyone could see him crying. He sat next to the others and sniffled as he wiped his eyes.

"You too, huh?" the female lynx muttered. Aaron just whimpered and nodded his head. "My name's Helen," she offered. "That's Jake and Becky," she pointed to the wolves, "and this is Pete," referring to the badger.

"I'm Aaron," he whispered. He didn't really feel like playing anymore, and by the dejected expressions on the others' faces, neither did they.

"Dad, what's a 'pred'?" Aaron finally asked while stirring his bugloaf around his plate, not eating much of his normally favorite food.

His parents looked at each other. "Well," his dad began, "'Pred' is short for 'predator'. That's what we are."

"And lynxes and wolves and badgers are preds, too?" Aaron asked.

His father nodded. "Thousands of years ago, some mammals ate other mammals for food." Aaron's eyes grew wide. His mother put her paw on her husband's and gave him a stern look. "Of course we don't anymore!" he quickly added, "but that's what makes some mammals 'predators' and other mammals 'prey'. Predators usually have sharper teeth and eat food with bugs in them, and prey animals only eat plants."

Aaron's mother turned to him. "Why do you ask, Aaron? Did… something happen at school?"

Aaron put down his fork and covered his eyes to hide the tears that were coming again. "Conrad doesn't want to play with me anymore." His small body shook as he tried to keep from sobbing. "And a moose told me to leave them alone and play with the other pred kids."

He heard a chair move as his mother came over and wrapped her arms around him. "There, there," she whispered. "It'll be okay. Hopefully this will just be a temporary thing and then everything will be back to normal, okay?" Aaron squeezed her as tight as he could. "C'mon, let's have some raspberry pie and then I'll go over your homework with you, okay?" She pulled back and wiped away Aaron's tears.

A small smile appeared on his face. "Okay. Thanks, Mom."

The next day, Aaron asked to be dropped off at school early. He waited by the parking lot, hoping that he could talk to Conrad before he got in a group with everyone else. When Conrad arrived, Aaron heard the rhino in the driver's seat warn "Remember what I told you," before glancing in his direction and driving off.

"Conrad! I know why you don't want to play with me anymore!" Aaron ran up to the rhino, who took a step back and held up his hooves defensively. "You're scared because predators used to attack prey animals, but we haven't done that for thousands of years! So you don't need to worry about me hurting you!" He grinned, certain that he had cleared everything up.

But Conrad just frowned. "It hasn't been thousands of years," he said. "My dad said predators are hurting prey mammals again. Yesterday a wolf went crazy and attacked a family of deer. They say predators are going 'savage' and acting like their ancestors did, hunting prey and trying to eat them."

Aaron's heart sank. "But I would never do that! I wouldn't go savage!"

"My dad said they don't know why it's happening. But it could happen to any predator." Conrad sighed. "That's why I can't play with you anymore."

Aaron didn't know what to say, and could only watch as his former best friend walked away to play with the other prey animals.

Aaron was no longer surprised to see Mr. Porter in class. It had been four days since he started subbing for Ms. Ursa, and after what his dad and Conrad had told him, he wasn't sure she would be coming back to teach them. The thought made him sad, but he was sad a lot lately. His family was too, although his mom tried really hard to put on a smile when he looked at her.

He walked to his desk and was surprised to find his name tag wasn't there.

"Students, we are going to try new seating arrangements today," Mr. Porter began. "I wanted to try moving the aisle from the edge of the class to directly in front of my desk, so that I can move back and forth quicker." He pointed at the isle which now separated a single row of desks from the others. "And I shuffled everyone so that you can meet new people and make new friends."

Aaron trudged over to the now isolated row and found his desk there. The aisle seemed much wider than a deer would need to walk through. And as the rest of the students found their new seats, he noticed that all the kids in his row had sharp teeth and claws. Helen's new seat was right behind his.

"What a surprise, I'm in the pred row," she snickered sarcastically in Aaron's ear. He hadn't liked her at first, but she was alright as he got to know her better. She tried to laugh at everything, which surprised him, as he couldn't find much to laugh at anymore.

After his talk with Conrad, Aaron started listening in on the news. He had to be careful about it, because his parents would immediately turn it off if they knew he was nearby. There had been another predator attack almost every other day, and they still didn't know what was causing it. They kept quoting a rabbit police officer who had apparently figured out that predators were going savage.

The next week there was another change to the classroom. Aaron's desk was gone.

"I'm so sorry for the constant changes!" Mr. Porter said cheerfully," but the school district just keeps coming up with fantastic ideas for improving the learning experience for all of our students. Since different animals have different learning styles, we will be dividing the class to try to better teach to those specific needs. Here are the names of the students which will be learning from Mr. Stevens," he gestured to an elephant waiting at the doorway looking in with a smile. Mr. Porter looked down at his clipboard and named the five predator students in the class, then stopped, putting down the clipboard. "Please go with Mr. Stevens to your new classroom."

Helen elbowed Aaron's side "What a coincidence!" She rolled her eyes and headed out the door. Aaron just sighed and followed her.

The new classroom had some students from the other second grade classes, as well as all the third grade classes, for a total of twenty-eight students. All of them were predators.

"Where's Pete?" Aaron whispered once they had all sat down.

Helen's ears lowered and she frowned, which was rare enough to alarm Aaron. "Pete's dad went savage a couple days ago," she said. "I don't know if his mom decided to have him stay home or if the school did."

Aaron sunk down in his chair. He remembered his mom saying that everything would be back to normal soon. He wondered how long "soon" could be.

The four predator kids sat down in their normal corner on the playground. Sometimes Helen managed to get them up and playing, but today was one of those mope-around days.

Suddenly a ball hit Helen the back of the head. "Ow!" she exclaimed and turned towards the courts. The moose calf who had told Aaron to go away was watching them and laughing. With a scowl on her face, Helen picked up the ball and pointedly marched over.

"Uh-oh," Aaron said. He knew Helen had a bit of a temper and didn't want to see her get in trouble.

"What's your problem?" he heard her shout. Most of the kids continued playing, but Helen had caught the attention of some of the students and even a couple teachers. Aaron took a few steps forward so he could hear the response and maybe step in if he had to.

"My problem?" the moose laughed before glaring back at her. "Is that monsters like YOU are still allowed here at school!" He stepped forward and shoved Helen roughly to the ground.

Helen crouched on all fours, hissed at the moose and pounced, tackling him to the ground. A loud trumpet filled the air, and Aaron felt the ground shake as Mr. Stevens sprinted toward the fight. Helen looked up to find the elephant towering over her and shrieked. She quickly stepped off the moose but didn't get any farther as Mr. Stevens put his trunk on her back and pressed her against the asphalt.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Helen cried.

Mr. Porter was next to the moose, helping him to his feet. "All students, hurry back to your classes!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Students began to scamper back to the main entrance. He pointed to an adult moose teacher, "Call the ZPD!" he ordered.

Helen was bawling at this point, constantly apologizing and begging to be let go.

"Be gentle with her!" Mr. Porter urged the elephant.

"I am!" Mr. Stevens insisted.

Mr. Porter finally noticed Aaron standing there, paralyzed with shock. "Aaron, go to your class!"

With a start, Aaron turned around and ran for the entrance, stopping at the door to look back for a moment before heading inside.

"And someone call the girl's parents!" he heard just before the door closed.

Aaron was breathing heavily as he rushed into the classroom. The students were all up against the windows, peering out. "Let me through!" He was normally a soft-spoken bear, and the others seemed to recognize his desperation and gave him a spot where he could see the playground.

Helen was still being held down. The students watched in nervous silence for a few minutes until two police cars pulled up. A pair of rhinos exited the first vehicle, both carrying tranquilizers which caused the students in the predator classroom to gasp. The officers waited as a cape buffalo got out and walked towards the elephant and lynx kitten. He knelt down, exchanged some words with Mr. Stevens, then pulled the trunk away from Helen, who immediately darted several feet away and curled up into a tiny ball. Mr. Stevens backed away and the buffalo stayed kneeling, beckoning Helen to come to him. After a minute of coaxing, she finally walked over to him, getting scooped up and held safely close to his chest.

The classroom let out a collective sigh, and most of the students went to their desks to do schoolwork or chat with their neighbors about what had happened. Aaron continued watching as eventually Helen's parents arrived. Helen lept from the buffalo's arms to her mother's and they took her home. Then the cape buffalo turned to the elephant teacher and the kind, caring demeanor from earlier was suddenly gone. His voice boomed all the way to the classroom, although Aaron couldn't quite tell exactly what he was shouting. It was incredible that the shorter buffalo could cause the elephant to cower like that.

"Children, please take your seats." Aaron jumped as a voice came from the door. It was Principal Grazer. The few remaining students at the window scampered to their desks and sat down.

"I'm very sorry you had to witness that," the sheep apologized in a deep voice. "Your parents are being contacted right now to take you home for the rest of the day."

Aaron was more worried about what had happened to Helen, and made note to ask her when he came back to class.

But Helen didn't come to school the next day.

Or the next.

Over the next two weeks, the numbers in Mr. Stevens classroom dwindled down to single digits, and finally, Aaron had had enough.

That evening after dinner, Aaron stepped into the kitchen as his mother was washing the dishes.

"Mama?" She turned with a look of mild surprise on her face; it had been some time since he had last called her that.

Aaron sniffled. "Do I have to go back to school tomorrow?"

His mother sighed. The question was not unexpected; she had discussed the options with her husband and they had already agreed on what the answer would be. "Of course not," she said with a forced smile. She hastily dried her hands and knelt to offer her son a hug, which he gratefully accepted. "Not if you don't feel comfortable there."

Aaron felt much happier once he no longer had to go to school. His parents still made him do worksheets for math and language and science, but he no longer felt like a prisoner who was being kept separate from the others for their safety. He missed his friends, but he knew that we wouldn't get to see them at school anyway. His parents still seemed stressed about the whole situation with the savage predators, but Aaron felt like a kid again, as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders. And he still remembered what his mother had said about the fear being temporary and things going back to normal.

But as more and more days went by, Aaron began to accept the fact that this simply was to be the new "normal". Predator children would not go to schools where the prey children and teachers would fear them. Prey children would not be allowed to be friends with predator children. And predators would leave the house less and less to avoid the stares. It hurt, but Aaron slowly eased into this new life.

On one such evening he sat on the living room floor using his crayons with his coloring book, ignoring the television behind him. He heard a strange sound and looked up from his book to find his parents kissing. "Ew!" he blurted, twisting his face in disgust. His father heard this and laughed, picking him up and placing him between his parents so they could kiss him from both sides.

"Ew, stop!" Aaron exclaimed, but he was laughing now. "Why are you acting so weird?"

His mother pointed at the television. "That's why, dear." Aaron stared at the screen for a moment and saw a very small sheep wearing a prison outfit and handcuffs, glaring and adjusting her large glasses.

"I don't get it," he said after a moment. His parents laughed again.

"Well you see," his father began, followed by a long pause. "It's actually kind of complicated. But now we know all those predators weren't going savage; bad mammals were shooting them with something which made them act that way. Now those mammals are in prison, and they have an antidote to turn those predators to the way they were before."

The gears in Aaron's head started turning.

"I don't want to get my hopes up, but this could make everything go back to normal." Aaron's mother sighed contently. "The ways things used to be."

Aaron finally managed to put a few of his thoughts into words. "Does this mean I can see my friends again?"

His parents responded by squeezing him in a great big bear hug. "We hope so, dear."

"Have a good day at school!" Aaron's mother waved as he got out of the car.

He turned and waved back. "Thanks, Mom! I love you!"

"Love you, too, Aaron! I'll be back at 3:30 to pick you up!" And with that, she drove away.

Aaron turned around and looked around the playground. Technically, nothing had changed, but it felt strangely foreign after his month's absence. He smiled to himself as he noticed Ms. Ursa walking towards the front door. Then the smile faltered a bit when he saw Conrad walking towards him. Were they still friends? Aaron found himself suddenly very nervous. But then, so did Conrad.

"Hey," Conrad muttered, staring at the ground.

"Hey," Aaron responded awkwardly.

"We were about to start a game of tag, if you wanted to-"

"Yeah!" Aaron interrupted. He laughed and jumped forward to give the rhino a quick hug. He stepped back and grinned, happy to have his friend back. He scanned the playground. Things wouldn't go back to normal overnight, but they were definitely getting better. He looked over at the old corner he spent with the other predator students and was surprised to see Helen there, all alone with her ears down and her tail curled around her, looking very self-conscious. An idea popped into Aaron's mind.

"Conrad, would you like meet my friend?"

The rhino saw the direction Aaron was facing and smiled.

"Sure."


	15. Family Ties

By: UneventfulWaffle

"Nick! Come on we can't be late!" Shouted Judy.

"I'm coming!" garbled Nick through his toothbrush, rushing to the door with coat in hand.

Nick swung open the front door, ushering Judy out of the house.

"Ladies first." said Nick suavely, grinning.

"Oh gee, thanks." said Judy flatly, clearly not impressed by the gesture.

"Where are we headed?" Asked Nick.

"Rainforest District, I've already got the address on my phone." said Judy

"this is gonna be such a horrible first impression, The first time we're meeting them and we're not even on time." Said Judy.

"I mean seriously, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they're gonna think we don't even have the decency to show up on time!" Said Judy, working herself closely to tears.

Nick himself was getting nervous, though Judy would never have noticed, she was far too busy with her own thoughts to really pay attention.

"Listen you're overthinking things here, I'm sure they'll understand, worse comes to worst we tell 'em we got lost or stuck in traffic, and think about if this was you, I'm sure you wouldn't care if someone showed up a little later than expected, Right?"

Nick's words were very reassuring for both Judy and himself.

"I guess you're right, but I just wanted things to go right, I wanted everything to be perfect for our first time meeting them"

Nick could see that Judy had calmed down a bit, but he could still see the disappointment and sorrow in her eyes.

"I can't think of one thing in this world that's perfect, myself excluded of course." Said Nick confidently.

"and even through all of that what we have has turned out okay, I might even go as far as to say things have turned out great." Said Nick with a more relaxed tone.

Nick could see that his Joking around had already made Judy feel far better.

"I know, I know, you're right... _for once_." Said Judy under her breath.

"oh har har, had to get that one out of your system huh?" Said Nick sarcastically.

"Well I can't just let remark that go unpunished now can I?" Said Judy, quite proud of her comment.

"Well, we have some very lovely people to meet, who have some very lovely _little_ people to meet, and it looks like we should be there in no time." Said Nick.

Out of all the districts in Zootopia The Rainforest District had to be one of Judy's favorites to visit, the smell of the rain lingering in the air, the diversity of all of the different plants and trees, the way the sunlight would cut through all of it.

But most importantly to her, this is when things felt like they started to _change_ between her and Nick, this is where he had finally opened up to her as a friend, revealing things he had never shared with anyone, and in that moment of need he had given her hope and confidence, as she did for him.

"Alright this is the place, Riverside Drive, unit A113." Said Judy.

"Okay then, let's head inside, as nice as it is out here it'll take me all day to dry off."

The building wasn't very opulent, the parking lot was cracked and worn, the paint was covered in dirt and chipping, and what was once a flowerbed was now full of weeds.

"Carrots, are you sure this is the right place? It seems a bit... murderey here." Said Nick apprehensively.

"Oh Nick stop that, in case you don't remember our first place wasn't exactly the height of luxury either." Judy reprimanded.

The inside wasn't much of an improvement either, but at least it wasn't wet.

"It should be down here on the left." Said Judy, looking down at her phone.

"this is it, this is the place, A113." Said Judy, looking at the door.

Nick exhaled sharply before speaking.

"you ready to do this?" Asked Nick.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Said Judy.

Nick knocked on the door, the two heard shuffling and speaking inside.

"Oh! That must be them!"

"Honey, the snacks! The snacks!"

The door swung open in front of Nick and Judy with a man standing in front of them.

"Hello! Come in, Come in, Have a seat!"

The man ushered them into their home, various nick knacks and toys littered the shelves and counter tops of the small apartment.

"Oh, thank you!" Said Judy.

"I'm Leo and this is my lovely wife Vivian! It's so nice to finally meet the two of you!"

"Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Judy!"

"Nick, how's it goin'?"

"Hi! After all this time it's so great to meet you guys in person! we've got some snacks for the two of you if you'd like!" Said Vivian.

On the coffee table sat various fruits, vegetables, and crackers.

"I've gotta say, It's so much cozier in here than it seemed it would be from the outside." Said Judy.

"Oh well thank you! We've certainly tried to make it homey for the children, things used to be better off but hey, life happens!" Said Vivian.

"Used to be better off?" asked Nick.

"Oh yes, we used to have this nice little place down in the savanna, but our land lady ended up asking us to leave what with all of the attacks from that Night Howler stuff, I think she was just afraid of having and predators as her tenants at that point." Said Leo.

Leo was an ocelot while Vivian was an Asian Palm Civet.

"Yeah, we weren't the only ones who found the letter that day, looking back on it I'm sure I could understand how she felt, I just wish things had been different, as you could probably tell this isn't the best area to look after the kids, this was just the only place we could find within our price range after we had to leave." Said Vivian.

"But now that the both of you are here we won't be worrying about the kids anymore!" Vivian put on a smile but it was quite clear she and Leo were saddened by everything they had just spoken about.

Judy's heart sank, she felt quite guilty about what she just heard, and couldn't help but blame herself for everything that had happened to them.

"Oh! And we have some blueberries here, I remember you said they were Nick's favorite!" Said Leo to Judy trying to change the subject.

"Well you certainly remembered right." Said Nick excitedly with a smile.

"Anyway, the two of you came here for the kids not a chit chat!" Said Leo brightly.

"Oh my yes! They're down here in the nursery, please, follow me." Said Vivian leading down the hall.

"Oh gosh, I'm so nervous." Said Judy.

"Just keep in mind they can't even talk yet Carrots." Nick told Judy.

Vivian slowly peeked in through the door.

"We're in luck, it looks like they've just woken up from their nap." Said Vivian.

Nick and Judy walked into the doorway and froze in place.

"Oh my god, they're even more perfect in real life." Said Judy in wonder.

Nick was completely speechless at the sight of the children.

There they were, A boy and a girl, _a rabbit and a fox,_ living together in the same household, the odds that they would be together, the odds that Nick and Judy would find them, that they would be the same age and everything.

"They sure are wonderful aren't they?" Said Leo.

"They're beautiful." Said Nick.

"Can... Can I hold them?" Asked Nick timidly.

"Go on! well of course you can! That is what you're here for after all!" Said Vivian.

Nick was completely overwhelmed with emotions as he picked up the children, he felt overjoyed, anxious, excited, and proud all at the same time, thing's just felt _right._

he had never felt this way before, Sure he'd held Judy's sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews before during visits but this was completely different, this didn't feel like he was holding someone else's kids, they felt like his own, and they were about to be.

"Judy, I am never putting these children down." Said Nick, unable to take his eyes away from them.

"well you're gonna have to so I can hold them too, Also when we sign adoption papers." Said Judy.

"Very valid point." Said Nick.

"let's go and get everything in order then." Said Leo.

Nick and Judy headed back to their car, followed closely by Leo and Vivian.

"So we'll meet you guys as city hall?" Asked Judy.

"Sounds good, We'll just be a bit before we take off." Responded Vivian.

Nick and Judy entered their vehicle set off on their way to city hall.

"I can't believe this is finally, _really_ happening." Said Judy.

"none of it feels like real life yet, It feels like I'm just gonna wake up any second, is that normal? That's normal right? Well either way it's been a long time coming, that's for sure." Said Nick.

"don't get me wrong, I'm completely excited about the kids and _all_ of this, But part of me feels wrong in all of this, They lost their home which is _my fault_ , and now it partly feels like I'm taking away their children too." Said Judy despondently.

"Judy, come on, you can't look at it like that, if they wanted the kids they could have just as easily adopted them, as for their apartment they said life happens and things move on, and they seemed happy enough to me." Said Nick.

Judy sighed.

"I guess you're right, I'm probably just overthinking things again." Said Judy.

"Alright, now we're gonna head down to city hall and we're going to adopt _our_ kids, how does that sound?" Asked nick enthusiastically.

"That sounds fantastic." Said Judy with a smile.

About two and a half hours later Nick and Judy had now finally arrived at city hall, Leo and Vivian pulled up shortly thereafter.

Nick and Judy exited their Vehicle and began to approach Leo and Vivian when Leo got out looking upset.

He started making his way over to the passenger side of the car, he opened the door, bent down and began speaking to Vivian.

As Nick and Judy walked closer they could hear the faint sound of Vivian crying.

"Hey, what's going on?" Asked Judy Softly.

"it- it's..." Said Vivian attempting to but incapable of holding back her tears.

"It's the kids." Continued Leo.

"We haven't been looking after them for all that long but we've grown quite attached we're in much of the same boat you guys are, And we've just been having some troubles letting go and saying our goodbyes." Said Leo.

Judy shot Nick a look that screamed 'I told you so'.

"That's okay, whenever you're ready to head inside we'll head inside, until then it can wait." said Judy.

"Thank you, but we should only be a moment." Said Leo.

"Well I'm gonna head inside and see if I can pick us up a spot in line and grab some paperwork, I'll text you once we're up." Said Nick.

"Okay, Thanks Nick, We'll see you inside." Said Judy.

About fifteen minutes had passed before Vivian had calmed down and was ready to go inside, Just in time for Judy to receive a text from Nick.

"Looks like we're next in line, you guys ready?" Said Judy.

"You guys go ahead, take the kids, I'll get your car set up for you." Said Leo.

"Alright, thank you." Said Judy.

Judy and Vivian headed inside to meet up with Nick, when they entered Nick waved them down from across the lobby.

"It feels good to be back in the city, the Rainforest is great but with the canopy I can't remember the last time I saw a blue sky, and for once my fur isn't even wet." Said Vivian as they made their way over to Nick.

"hey you guys, where's Leo?" Asked Nick.

"He's outside setting up the car seats for us right now." Said Judy.

"Alright cool, here are our papers, we're all gonna need to sign these." Said Nick.

"How did you manage to get through the line so fast? I thought we'd be here all day." Said Judy.

"Oh that? I know a guy, turns out helping the city has some perks." Said Nick.

"Well that's convenient." Said Judy.

"Hey Judy you should go and grab Leo so we can get this up to the desk." Said Nick.

"On it." Said Judy.

Judy set off towards the car with paperwork in hand.

"So... Did you guys have any names in mind?" Asked Vivian.

"We've got everything but the girl's middle name." Said Nick.

"I know it's not my decision, But if you're open to suggestion I think Willow would be a nice middle name for her, Back when we were here in the city, there was this one park Leo and I would take the kids to, and it had this great big willow tree right in the middle, Every time we would go she just adored it.

Said Vivian.

"Hmm..." mumbled Nick.

"I know it's probably stupid but-" Said Vivian.

"It's fantastic, I know Judy is gonna love it, thank you Vivian." Said Nick.

"Speak of the devil." Said Vivian.

Walking toward them in the distance were Leo and Judy, Judy was holding up the papers giving a thumbs up.

"All right, Everything is in order now let's go and hand it all in." Said Judy."

"Actually we need might to make a slight adjustment." Said Nick.

"Oh?" Said Judy looking puzzled.

"I think we've got a certain young lady's middle name, Willow." Said Nick.

Leo immediately cracked a smile.

"It's beautiful! Did you just come up with it?" Asked Judy.

"Actually, Vivian suggested it to me." Said Nick.

"Oh thank you Vivian, it's wonderful I love it!" Said Judy hugging Vivian.

"No problem." Said Vivian.

The group walked up to the desk hand in their papers.

"alright, papers please." said the man at the desk.

"Here you so." Said Nick.

"Congratulations Nicholas P. Wilde, and Judith L. Hopps, you are now the proud parents of two new children." Said the man at the desk.

"Thanks a bunch Matt, I owe you!" Said Nick

"Yes you do Nick, Yes you do." Said Matt.

"Alright, I have a surprise for everyone now, Leo, Vivian, Either of you two religious?" Said Nick.

"What?" Said Judy Leo and Vivian in unison.

"Just answer the question, are you or are you not?" Said Nick.

"Cattholic, I don't see what that has to do with anything though." Said Leo.

"Perfect, I was hoping you would say that, trust me you're gonna love this, follow me, Carrots I'm driving." Said Nick.

"Why? where are we going?" Asked Judy.

"Come on, just believe me this is gonna be great, give me the keys." Said Nick.

Judy tosses the keys to Nick.

"Splendid, now you guys just tag along behind us and we'll be good to go." Said Nick.

They began Making their way back to the cars.

"Now this shouldn't take more than an hour, and it will be well worth everyone's time." Said Nick.

Nick and Judy entered their vehicle after after putting the kids inside.

"Nick, come on, tell me where we're going, What are we doing?" Said Judy.

"I know another guy." Said Nick.

"Okay, _we_ are going to get the kids baptized." Said Nick smugly.

"Wait, Why? You didn't even ask me about this." Said Judy in a displeased tone.

"I'll explain it to you on the way, If you don't agree with the plan we don't have to do it, _but_ , you're gonna like the plan." Said Nick.

A short drive later and Nick and Judy had pulled into the parking lot of a small church on the outskirts of downtown with Leo and Vivian behind them.

At first glance the place looked more like somebody's house more so than it did a church.

"Nick, are you sure this place is still open? It looks a little run down." Said Judy.

"Positive, my dad used to drag me here every week when I was younger, He still shows up here from time to time." Said Nick.

Nick and Judy exited their vehicle, Judy moved towards the back seats to get the children while Nick motioned to Leo and Vivian to head inside.

The interior consisted of a small entry hall leading directly into the sanctuary with a bathroom off to the side.

And seeing as it was the middle of the week the place was empty, with the exclusion of the pastor who was preparing for his next service.

"Nicholas? Is that you?" Said the pastor.

"Yes it is, it's good to see you again." Said Nick.

"and you my boy! How long has it been?" Asked the pastor.

"let's see... it must have been when my mom and dad came to renew their vows, so maybe... three years? Maybe four?" Said Nick.

"Well whatever the case it's wonderful to see you again, Is there something I can help you with today?" Asked the pastor.

"I actually came to ask a favor of you." Said Nick.

"Yes anything, what is it?" Asked the pastor eagerly.

Nick waved Judy Leo and Vivian into the room.

"Oh my, are these friends of yours?" Said the pastor.

"Well actually, this is my wife Judy." Said Nick.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Said Judy.

"these two are friends, this is Leo, And Vivian." Said Nick.

"A pleasure." Said Leo.

"pleased to meet you." Said Vivian.

"And these two little things right here, are my beautiful new children, adopted as of today." Said Nick.

"That's fantastic news! I'm so glad to hear it!" Said the pastor.

"And we were actually here for their baptisms if you would." Said Nick.

"And not to be disrespectful or anything, but if we could do things a little quickly that would be wonderful, Nick and I have to get ready for a trip once we get home." Said Judy

"Of course no problem! I would be happy to! I'll be right back with what we'll need for the sacrament." Said the pastor.

A few moments later the pastor made his way back into the room carrying a small black and silver bottle, capped with a cross.

"Right then, We'll start with the boy, I hereby baptize this child in the name of the lord." Said the pastor flicking water from the bottle onto the boy's forehead.

"That's it? That was not at all what I had anticipated." Said Judy.

"Well you asked things be done quickly, have you had a change of heart?" Said the pastor.

"No, No by all means that was great." Said Judy.

"and now for the girl, I hereby baptize this child in the name of the lord." Said the pastor this time flicking water onto the girl's forehead.

"That settles that, I believe that was everything?" Said the pastor.

"Well actually, There was one other thing, We would also like to assign their godparents." Said Nick turning to Leo and Vivian.

Leo and Vivian were completely floored, having not been informed about the plan, the idea was a shock to them both.

"What?" Said Vivian.

"Well I mean if you're up for it, it'll give you a nice excuse to come and visit, Judy was feeling lousy anyway on the way to city hall, then after what Leo said I came up with a plan." Said Nick.

"Well wouldn't it have just been easier to come and visit anyway? Instead of you guys having to go to the trouble that is." Said Vivian.

"Well we're here now anyway, besides Nick and I probably won't be able to handle everything on our own, you guys are close by and this is just a great opportunity for you guys to stay connected, are you not interested?" Said Judy.

"No, no of course we are, It would be a dream come true for us, Thank you both so much, you've both been so kind through all of this, it means the world I just don't know what to say." Said Vivian in tears.

"You've already said more than enough, it's settled, let's get this show on the road!" Said Nick.

The ceremony had concluded rather quickly, working out well for Nick and Judy to give them time to prepare for their trip.

"Thank you for everything pastor, we appreciate it very much, Goodbye." Said Nick.

"Of course, remember, you are always welcome here and I am always happy to help." Said the pastor.

"So I suppose we'll see you guys sometime after the trip? Safe travels you _four!_ " Said Leo to Nick Judy and the kids.

"Bye bye! We should only be a few days, See you then!" Shouted Judy as Leo and Vivian entered their car.

Nick and Judy entered their car and made their way back to the house.

"We're home now you guys! Your new home!" Said Judy to the kids.

And to no surprise at all the only responses she got were blank stares and baby noises.

"So what's our game plan here? Do your parents have their place child proofed? Is our room set up?" Asked Nick.

"Our plan is to get home get packed and leave in the morning, nothing more nothing less, and my Mom and Dad's house has been perpetually child proofed since before I was born." Replied Judy.

"And what about the last thing? Do they have cribs in our room? Bedtime stories, anything like that?" Asked Nick.

"Well..." Said Judy meekly.

"Well what?" Asked Nick.

"Well they still don't know about the kids." Said Judy

"Are you serious? Have you not told them?" Asked Nick.

"Well I thought it would be a fun surprise like the last one." Said Judy.

"Judy, Honey, As fun as surprises can be, I hardly think getting a save the date in the mail out of nowhere, two weeks before a wedding is very much fun." Said Nick.

"Okay, that may have been poor planning on my part, I just hadn't considered them being able to get the time off for it, or their travel, but this time will be different! We're the ones going out of our way here not them, Besides, anything they don't have that we need we can pick up once we get there." Said Judy.

"Carrots, BunnyBurrow isn't exactly a shopping district, In case you hadn't noticed there's not much around." Said Nick.

"Aha, but that was last time we visited, As it just so happens my Mom and Dad said on MuzzleTime that in the next town over there's a new Walmare now." Said Judy proudly.

"Oh boy, moving up in the world eh?" Said Nick.

"alright well we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, I'll go put the kids to bed." Said Nick.

"Alright, see you in a bit." Said Judy.

Nick grabbed the kids, got them ready for bed, made his way into the nursery, and set the kids in their cribs.

"I love you two, And I hope you find the place nice because you're gonna be stuck here for a while, Nighty Night sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite." Said Nick.

Nick gave their mobiles a spin, set on a music box, turned out the light and made his way to the bedroom.

"Nick I'm impressed, I don't even hear any screaming." Said Judy.

"What can I say? I'm a natural." Said Nick.

"Oh yeah, and also the fact that it's been a really long day." Said Judy.

"That may have _possibly_ contributed slightly, but other than that, Natural" Said Nick.

"Good night Nick." Said Judy.

Nick's face took a look of sadness.

"Judy, Can we handle this? I mean, I know it's not always gonna be this easy, and it's a little late now but, what happens when there's something I can't handle? What happens when there's something _we_ can't handle?" Said Nick worried.

"Nick, we uncovered and stopped a secret plot from a criminal mastermind that threatened and endangered countless animals, I think we can handle a couple of babies." Said Judy.

Nick looked down at the floor still quite sad.

"Alright listen, Do you love them?" Asked Judy.

"More than anything." Said Nick.

"Then all will be well, And we'll do a great job, As long as we all have each other we'll be fine, worse comes to worst we ask my parents for help, they're pros at this point." Said Judy.

Nick Let out a sigh as he laid down in bed.

"I love you so much Judy, Good Night." Said Nick.

"Good night Nick, I love you too." Judy told Nick, hugging him closely.

The next morning was a scramble, Nick and Judy had been awoken by the sounds of crying many _many_ times, but their final cries came all too late as Nick looked at the clock.

"Carrots! The alarm didn't go off!" Said Nick, in a state of dismay.

"Okay okay calm down! Hurry up and get ready, I'll go take care of the kids while you're in the shower, when it's my turn you load up the car." Said Judy.

Nick rushed into the bathroom, while Judy to the nursery, she changed diapers, fed the kids, and darted around the room grabbing things to put in her bag, she was used to all of this, she had managed plenty of practice with all of her siblings and cousins back in BunnyBurrow.

She picked up the kids and headed out into the living room and waited for Nick.

"Finally! it's been like fifteen minutes!" Said Judy loudly.

"Hey you know what, I'd rather get there fifteen minutes later and be clean." Said Nick defensively.

"Okay fine, just take the kids and start moving things." Said Judy.

She handed Nick the kids and ran off to the bathroom.

Nick started packing everything he could think of, If throwing things into suitcases could be considered 'packing'.

Carrying two children and a bag was proving to be quite difficult but there wasn't much time for easy as he hurried to load up the car.

Nick was just moving the last of the bags as he heard Judy get out of the bathroom.

"Okay, do we have everything?" Asked Judy.

"And then some." Said Nick pointing to some bags that wouldn't fit in the car.

"Alright, let's get going." Said Judy energetically, speed walking to the car.

The drive had been far less eventful than everything _leading up_ to the drive, every now and then they would have to stop for bathroom breaks, diaper changes, snacks, and feedings, other than that they made good time.

By the time they had finally arrived in BunnyBurrow it was very nearly sunset and Judy's parents had just headed inside, crops tended, dinner to be eaten.

"Well, we're finally here." Said Nick.

"Home sweet home." Said Judy as they pulled into the driveway.

Judy could see her family's silhouettes moving around through the the light in the windows of the house, making their way towards the front door.

Judy took in a deep breath of the farm air as she stepped out of the vehicle.

"It is _so_ good to be back." Said Judy grinning.

Between work, her and Nick's adoption plans, and generally being way too tired to drive, they hadn't been able to visit very often.

The front door swung open and out came about a quarter of Judy's family, Her parents at the head of the line.

"Judy?! Nick?! What are you guys doing here?!" Shouted Stu.

"We thought we'd just stop by and visit for a few days, Is that alright?" Said Judy.

"Of course! By all means! Come on inside, we were just about to have dinner." Said Bonnie.

"Actually... we have to grab something from the car first..." Said Judy moving towards the back seat and opening the door.

"Well actually, two things." Said Nick opening the car door.

Nick and Judy picked up the kids from out of the car, and as they did they could hear awws and gasps.

"Are those... Children?!" Said Bonnie.

"Well yeah, I thought you'd be familiar with what children looked like by now." Joked Nick.

"And... whose are they?" Asked Bonnie intently.

"Ours." Said Judy.

Bonnie yelped, her and Stu and ran up to Nick and Judy for a hug.

"They're so beautiful, What are their names?" Asked Bonnie.

"Johnathon Nicholas Wilde." Said Nick.

"And Nicole Willow Wilde." Said Judy.

"Well it's about time you brought us grandchildren!" Said Bonnie.


End file.
